Q: Can an employer turn me down for a position after I complained about the program's wrongdoings?
I put a complaint in with the Human Resource department about the wrongs that were going on in my program and the injustice that was going on. I applied to several positions withing my company to which I've gotten denied to all. I applied for a directors position and the position was given to a person with only a GED, I then applied for coordinator and early interventionist and got denied, I applied for Dean and got denied, I applied for assistant director and got denied for that as well. I have over 15 years of experience to be able to perform my job in any position and I also have my Master's degree and I currently working on my Doctorate degree. I have no opportunity for advancement within my company ever since my complaint to them. What can I do? Is there a law that protects education?
A:
It may be challenging for any lawyer to provide you with sufficient suggestions based on the facts you mentioned.
If you work within a government or quasi government organization different considerations come into play.
You mention wrongs and injustice. We have to examine whether the wrongs or injustice violate employment laws. Assuming no union or private employment contract and no government employer that analysis usually involves discrimination.
What protected classes of employees do you belong to? Did the hiring authority deny you a position or promotion motivated by your membership in one or more protected classes? If so that may be discriminatory and wrong. Denying someone a job or promotion wrongly or unjustly is not necessarily illegal.
You should call employment lawyers to discuss the specific details.
Politics come into play much more especially in government positions today. And that includes nepotism, favoritism, maliability, cooperativeness, and many others. Often times selection criteria are vague enough that discrimination is never easy to prove.
If you choose to call some employment lawyers many might try to help you achieve your goal. Those suggestions might include considering options which you may not have considered or possibly discounted, without exploring the costs or probability of succeeding or timeframes for other options.
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