---

---

Our client was a human resources director employed by a borough situated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Even though she was over the age of 60, she had become a target of a hostile work environment and gender discrimination at the hands of the president and vice-president of the borough council, the borough’s manager, and the former chief of police. After filing a complaint with the borough, these same individuals retaliated against her, discrediting her in front of subordinates and making it impossible to perform her work effectively. She then retained the team at Nochumson P.C. to handle her dispute with these individuals and the borough.

We immediately filed a Charge of Discrimination on her behalf with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  A charge of discrimination is a signed statement asserting that an employment agency has engaged in discrimination against you. Subsequently, after reviewing the merits of the Charge of Discrimination we filed on our client’s behalf, the EEOC issued a right-to-sue letter. The issuance of a right-to-sue letter means that the EEOC has determined that there are grounds for a discrimination claim.  Under these circumstances, the aggrieved employee must still file a lawsuit against his or her employer in judicial proceedings and a court still must separately adjudicate the merits of the claim.

After receiving the right-to-sue letter, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of our client in federal court, alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and violation of her right to equal protection and procedural and substantive due process under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, among additional state law claims. 

The borough then filed a motion attempting to dismiss the lawsuit. After the federal court refused to do so, the borough agreed to amicably resolve this matter and we were able to negotiate a substantial retirement package for our client.