If you’ve the victim of employment discrimination in Sacramento, you undoubtedly have many questions and more than a few concerns. Some of these questions undoubtedly have to do with the work of a discrimination attorney Sacramento. Among these matters likely is a desire on your part to have a solid understanding of the process a Sacramento discrimination attorney utilizes in building a case.

The process of building a case utilized by a Sacramento discrimination lawyer involves a number of key steps that include:

• Initial discrimination case evaluation
• Review of applicable laws associated with workplace discrimination and wrongful termination
• Client interviews and collection of documents and other evidence
• Investigation of facts and circumstances of wrongful termination 
• Discovery in wrongful or discrimination termination lawsuit

Initial Discrimination Case Evaluation

The reality is that a skilled, seasoned Sacramento employment discrimination attorney begins building a case during an initial consultation and case evaluation with a prospective client. Indeed, in any type of wrongful termination matter, the starting point for the construction of an effective case against the offending employer is the initial client consultation and associated case evaluation.

The importance of the initial consultation in an employment discrimination cannot be overstated; however, the preliminary appointment with Sacramento workplace discrimination attorney is sometimes considered pro forma by a person seeking legal representation. Because of the importance of the initial consultation on a number of levels, a person who believes he or she is the victim of workplace discrimination must be adequately prepared for the first session with legal counsel.

Review of Applicable Laws Associated with Workplace and Wrongful Discrimination

Even though an experienced discrimination lawyer would have a solid understanding of applicable statutes, regulations, and appellate court cases on the subject matter, focused legal research represents another step legal counsel takes in order to build an effective discrimination case for a client. The reality is that the facts and circumstances of each individual employment discrimination case is unique. Thus, different aspects of the law and prior holdings of appellate courts come into play in a particular case.

As an aside, there are many areas of workplace discrimination law that are considered “settled.” By that it is meant that statutory provisions, associated regulations, and applicable decisions in court cases have been relatively consistent on the federal and state level in California. Having said that, the overall realm of employment law, including that associated with discrimination in the workplace, is always at least somewhat in state of flux. For this reason, capable legal counsel will always spend time ascertaining whether or not there have been any changes in the law – including statutes, regulations, and court cases that might impact a particular client’s case in some manner or another.

Client Interviews and Collection of Documents and Other Evidence

As part of building a discrimination claim and case, an attorney will spend time interviewing the client. In addition, a lawyer will collect documents and evidence that is available to a client or otherwise accessible but that the person being represented does not yet have in hand for one reason or another. This generally does not include documents and other evidence that is in the possession of an employer. That type of evidence will be available at a later point in time should the claim not be settled and the case proceeds to a lawsuit.

As a discrimination lawyer works through the specific claims made by a client and examines evidence of all types that already has been compiled or obtained, counsel very likely will identify other types of evidence that would buttress a case. Evident begets evidence or the need for additional evidence in cases involving employment discrimination or wrongful termination.

Investigation of Facts and Circumstances of Discrimination or Wrongful Termination

Before diving a bit deeper into the investigation of facts and circumstances conducted by legal counsel in a discrimination or wrongful termination case, a note about what an employee ideally does when faced with discriminatory or other wrongful practices. If a person believes that they are being subjected to discriminatory or other wrongful practices, ideally that individual should maintain a written record of specific incidents of this type of conduct by managers or someone else in the workplace.

A major element of a Sacramento discrimination lawyer’s efforts to build a strong case for a client involves additional investigation of the facts and circumstances underlying a client’s claim. This is undertaken before the formal discovery process in a lawsuit (which is discussed more fully in a moment).

In a more ideal situation, a client has already taken some steps on his or her own to document incidents of discrimination in the workplace. As noted a moment ago, an employee who desires to pursue a discrimination claim has taken the step of documenting what was experienced in the workplace. In addition, a client has also undertaken some effort to pull together what he or she believes is necessary evidence to support a discrimination claim.

A Sacramento discrimination attorney builds upon documentation, other evidence compiled by a client, and statements provided by that client in formulating the strongest possible case in pursuit of justice and compensation for wrongful workplace harassment or discrimination.

Discovery in Wrongful Termination or Discrimination Lawsuit

If the claims negotiation process has reached a point that no immediate settlement seems in the offing, if the deadline to file a lawsuit in a California court is near, or if some other strategic need exists for filing a wrongful termination or discrimination lawsuit, litigation may formally commence. Once a discrimination lawsuit is underway, the case will reach a juncture at which what is known as the discovery process commences.

A court will establish a schedule for different matters associated with a discrimination case including such matters as when the discovery process must be completed. Indeed, with input from the parties (usually via legal counsel) a court establishes a discovery schedule.

In basic terms, discovery in a lawsuit is the process by which the parties to the case are able to obtain certain evidence from the opposing party. This comes in the form of documents. It also means that an attorney for a person with a discrimination complaint can obtain deposition of certain key representatives of an employer or other key witnesses. A deposition is questioning under oath.

The discovery process results in the development of additional evidence associated with an employment discrimination case. Obtaining this information allows a qualified Sacramento discrimination attorney to continue to evaluate the strength of a case. Evidence gleaned through the discovery process can prove to fundamental building blocks for what hopefully proves to be an effective case against an employer alleged to have discriminated.

As a related aside, evidence obtained through discovery oftentimes results in a resumption of settlement negotiations if that process had stalled previously. For example, the production of evidence through discovery may demonstrate that a person pursuing an employment discrimination claim has a meritorious case.

The first step in retaining an experienced, tenacious Sacramento discrimination lawyer is to schedule an initial consultation with prospective legal counsel. As a matter of standard practice in the state of California, a discrimination attorney typically arranges an initial consultation and case evaluation at no obligation and no cost to a prospective client.