Q: Met w/an Attorney who took to long to get back to me, went past the 90 day from EEOC. What can I do now?
A: There are two clear answers, and a large grey area. If the attorney signed an agreement in which he agreed to bring a lawsuit for you, or even to represent you in your claim against your employer, you very likely can hold him or her responsible for blowing the deadline. If you and the attorney were merely discussing your case, there was no understanding that the attorney would represent you, and you were aware of the deadline, it is unlikely a court would hold the attorney responsible. There are a range of more ambiguous situations in between these two extremes, and there are 50 states, each with different laws on legal malpractice, so to get a clear opinion, you need to retain someone experienced in legal malpractice in your state. NB: for claims of race, color or national origin discrimination, there is a four year statute of limitations, and it makes no difference whether you met your 90-day EEOC filing deadline. Check out 42 USC 1981.
A: Further thought: even if the attorney were legally responsible for missing the filing deadline, in some states, you would still have to show that you had a viable discrimination claim.
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