Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

EEOC Lawyer

If you need to file an EEOC Charge or have filed an EEOC Charge, you may have legal claims against your employer and should have a free consultation with an MKO Employment Lawyer immediately.

Discrimination – the act of making an unfavourable distinction and/or decision for a being based on the perceived or actual group, class, action, or category to which they belong such as on age, criminal record, disability, family status, gender identity, gender expression, generation, genetic characteristics, marital status, military status, nationality, color, race and ethnicity, religion, sex and sex characteristics, sexual orientation, whistleblowing as well as other categories (All MKO Discrimination Practice Areas). These topics are protected under a complex and coextensive mixture of agencies like the EEOC, PHRC, ACHRC, and PGH HRC as well as Federal, State, County, and Local laws and regulations. 

These claims are complex and must be asserted correctly in order to (1) file timely all claims within the statute of limitations, often with multiple agencies and courts, to preserve litigation rights, (2) correctly assert the claim under the proper legal format and not destroy your chances of a successful resolution, and (3) demonstrate your case is serious and has merit to both the EEOC and your employer. In fact, many people have legal claims both through the EEOC and those that are outside of its jurisdiction with unique and time sensitive requirements. Hiring an employment lawyer can help you avoid the pitfalls of pro se (without a lawyer) litigation, negotiation, and resolution. MKO is a contingency-based employment law focused law firm, in other words if we take your case we are on same team, we only get paid if we produce a result.

Filing your EEOC case

The EEOC is a federal agency that “investigates” claims of discrimination based off sex, gender, national origin, age, disability, sexual harassment, pregnancy, race, retaliation, religion. Before any claims of discrimination can be filed in court, you must first exhaust your administrative remedies by filing with an agency. Because of the massive number of people filing and the chronic underfunding of the agency, and it isn’t their fault, but an investigation often amounts to nothing more than a letter from the EEOC. This asks the employer whether the claims are accurate, for their side of the story, and includes your EEOC Charge (often for pro se people consisting of a short statement and a check the box form). Without legal counsel, this extremely limited inquiry rarely results in any action and the claim isn’t taken seriously by your former employer – in other words it will just sit inactive for a long time, until you are required to file formal and public litigation in court.

Timeline of an EEOC Case

A general timeline of a case filed with the EEOC is as follows:

  1. File a Charge.
  2. You are assigned an investigator.
  3. An investigation ensues.
  4. The Employer may submit a position statement which is a statement outlining their defenses to your claims.
  5. Mediation, typically only occurring if the employer agrees. That is often because they believe the claims have enough merit that a lawsuit could one day be filed.
  6. Your investigator will eventually find probable cause or issue a right to sue notice (far more likely) allowing you to bring your claims in court.

Do I need a private EEOC attorney to respond to my employer’s position statement and evidence?

If you do not properly respond to the employer’s position statement, it could result in your investigator dismissing your case. The employer is going to present numerous legal defenses and evidence to prove they had a legitimate reason to fire you. When responding to the employer’s position statement, you need to be concise, organized and well versed in the law. Our attorneys at MKO can assist you putting forth the best response to the employer’s position statement.

Should I have an attorney for EEOC Mediation?

Your case could be selected for Mediation. Mediation is where all parties come together to try to resolve the case. You will need to negotiate your demands. The employer will likely bring an attorney who will try to intimidate you into lowering your demands. The attorney will tell you that you have no case, your demand is unreasonable or we cannot afford to pay that. The attorney will use every strategy possible to make you lower your demand.

Our attorneys at MKO would help you reach the highest possible settlement. We would evaluate your damages and come up with a reasonable demand. We would also negotiate on your behalf. We are used to the employer’s tricks and won’t be fooled into lowering our demand just because they say no. We will have our own defenses and strategies prepared and will push the employer to pay more than they want to. Hiring at attorney can result in you receiving much more money than if you do it alone.

Cause Letter, Yes! Right to Sue Notice, Not So Fast. What should I do?

The EEOC may issue a Letter of Determination Finding Probable Cause “For Cause Letter” that indicates a finding that unlawful acitvity occured. You should Contact MKO Immediately. 

If the EEOC has issued a Right to Sue Notice, that means your case has been dismissed by the EEOC and you have 90 days from the date the Notice was issued to file a federal lawsuit. Our attorneys at MKO can evaluate your case and may help you file a lawsuit. At this stage if there isn’t additional persuasive evidence, you will likely need pay for legal assistance or you will need to file a lawsuit on your own. Often, general practice law firms, the ones that have many practice areas on their websites, handle a high volume of clients, and seek limited settements, are willing to take a case with a Right to Sue issued on contingency basis. Unfortunately, MKO as a highly specialized legal practice focuses primarily on cases involving the EEOC with active mediation or probable cause findings.

Employee Legal Consultations

Employment Lawyer Consultations

After dispensing thousands of legal consultations to potential clients, I can easily say it’s my favorite part of my practice. My guidance, even if I can’t accept them as a client, helps people immeasurably in figuring out what to do and how to move forward with their lives. I make a measurable impact every single day on many people. Who else can say that about their job? I love it. Call me. – Michael Kraemer, Esq.

2545 Railroad Street, Suite 100
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

We offer actual employment lawyer (not staff) consultations with local Pennsylvania attorneys from 7am to 7pm Monday through Friday, and 8am to 3pm on Saturday and Sunday. We are always happy to give advice to everyone, even if we can’t represent you.

Get The Damages and Compensation You Deserve

If you were fired, laid off, or you suffered any other adverse employment action due to unlawful conduct, you may be eligible to pursue compensation for:

  • Back pay
  • Future lost earnings
  • Emotional distress
  • Pain and suffering
  • Compensatory damages
  • Liquidated damages
  • Punitive damages
  • Attorney’s fees and costs

Email A Lawyer

📲412-301-2700

“Providing you a path forward in your life, career, and recovering the compensation you deserve.™” 

MKO is a “boutique firm” which means that we focus on a niche area and offer highly specialized services to clients who are looking for the personal touch within our area of expertise: Employment Law. Boutique law firms are not a general practice or one-stop legal shop, and that’s a good thing. You need one good attorney who knows the ins and outs of the area of law that’s relevant to your case. Look for a law firm that primarily practices the area of law that you need. If that’s all they do, chances are, they do it very well. We see each legal dispute as an opportunity to find a fair and equitable resolution without destroying your reputation, resume, job prospects, income, and if avoidable, not subjecting you, your family, friends, and former coworkers to unnecessary, highly invasive, time consuming, stressful, and ultimately public litigation. MKO, “Providing you a path forward in your life, career, and recovering the compensation you deserve.™” Confidentiality is key, for everyone. Are you a victim? MKO’s employment lawyers are always available for the clients. You can contact us anytime for a case assessment and evaluation. 

Ten Reasons To Choose Our Law Firm

1. Focused Employment Law Practice

MKO is a “boutique law firm” which means that we concentrate on this niche area and offer highly focused employment law services to clients who are looking for the personal touch. Boutique law firms are not a one-stop legal shop, and that’s a good thing. While a long roster of diverse legal services may look impressive on paper, it’s fairly pointless in practice. You need one good attorney who knows the ins and outs of the area of law that’s relevant to your case.  Look for a law firm that only practices in the area of law that you need. If that’s all they do, chances are, they do it very well.

2. Technology Driven & Experts in the Cloud

We provide immediate legal consultations, operate a paperless law firm, use advanced cloud storage, digital signatures, electronic forms, and can review your documents using screen share technology instantaneously. MKO is technologically savvy, nimble, flexible, and efficient. 

We are not confined to our office, chained to a desktop computer, or burdened with IT maintenance. Thanks to the smart use of technology we can focus on providing our clients with the best representation possible. By streamlining our practice we can focus on what our clients hire us to do – advocate on their behalf and work diligently toward a desired result.

3. Legal Advice Instantly From The Comfort of Home

MKO can provide superior legal services through adapative use of new technology and provide the majority of legal assistance while you are comfortably working from your home. It just also happens it’s better, easier, and faster for our clients – they really appreciate it. We seemlessly and interactively collaborate with you in a relaxed enviornment where you have all of your files in your immediate control. We find this is the absolute best way to provide legal advice to our clients on complex legal issues, hands down.

The old style of coming into our office with binders of disjointed and unsearchable paperwork, of which we to organize and figure out on the fly, is incredibly wasteful, time-consuming, inefficient, and not highly productive. Because of our integration with technology, we are ready to work with you on highly intricate matters on a moments notice, no matter where you (or we) are.

4. Discreet When Necessary

While many cases require that we go to court to seek justice, there are a substantial number of disputes that need to be handled discreetly. We see each legal dispute as an opportunity to find a fair and equitable resolution without destroying your reputation, resume, job prospects, income, and if avoidable, not subjecting you, your family, friends, and former coworkers to unnecessary, highly invasive, time consuming, stressful, and ultimately public litigation. MKO, “Providing you a path forward in your life, career, and recovering the compensation you deserve.™”

Confidentiality is key, for everyone. 

5. Experience, Professional, & Integrity

Through representing and managing thousands of employment situations, rest assured there is help or a path forward for your situation. For example, Partner Christi Wallace has personally represented over 900 clients and has managed hundrends more for associates that worked for her in just the last 7 years!

6. Highly Responsive Attorneys

We always get the question, “If I choose to have you represent me, will it be difficult for me to get in touch with you?”

Absolutely not, we even make ourselves available to clients beyond our normal business hours! Futher, when you call us your attorney answers, not a secretary who puts you on hold for 20 minutes, then tells you that you can leave a voicemail for your attorney. Besides the MKO office phone number, our clients can contact their attorney via mobile, SMS & texting, business email, and an urgent emergency email. For example, we can often respond to a text message in just a few minutes. Experience a better, faster, and more efficient way to work with an attorney. MKO believes that clients can and should depend on the fact that we’ll respond quickly.

7. Attorneys Available 74+ Hours Per Week

Employment Attorneys are available at least 74 hours per week by phone, email, and text messaging. Don’t be fooled by marketing, many law firms are using non-attorney 3rd party answering services and advertising “Phones Answered 24 Hours A Day, 7 Days A Week.” We pick up our own phones, respond to our own emails and text messages, and use real attorneys, 74+ hours per week. 

M-F🕖7am-🕖7pm
Sat/Sun🕗8am-🕒3pm

8. Practical Advice From Seasoned Professionals

MKO strongly believes that every situation is distinctly unique and therefore we must endevour to find the right solution for that particular issue. Because we are a boutique employment law firm, we strive to find unique and innovation solutions for our clients in every circustance. We take action when necessary, put together deals when possible, and work with our clients so we can be creative and find smart solutions instead of needless litigation. We want to protect your interests now and in the future.

9. Contingency Representation

Contingency Legal Representation is where you do not have to pay your lawyer up front. This is fantastic if you are offered this option. Lawyers and litigation costs are incredibly expensive if you pay hourly. With contingency representation, you are not faced with large legal bills and expenses that are daunting and causes slow downs while waiting for a retainer to be replenished. Further, when you’re offering to pay anyone up front and hourly, it seems they’ll take almost any case – so long as they are getting paid. Funny how that works. Here’s how we help:

  • People can afford an attorney. – Without the benefit of contingency, it would be very difficult for a person who was recently seperated from their job to afford an employment lawyer.
  • MKO only gets paid if there is a recovery.  – We put our money where our mouth is, if we don’t get a recovery, you don’t owe legal fees and costs.
  • Contingency representation says something about your case. – Considering MKO only will get paid if there is a recovery, you can assume we like to cases that we believe have merit.
  • Helps people can move on with their lives – Instead of racking up debt to pay for legal help, our contingency representation lets you move on with your life as we deal with the legal stuff. This is exactly what MKO stands for, “Providing you a path forward in your life, career, and recovering the compensation you deserve.™”
10. Keeping Costs Low To Focus On Your Case

Our clients understand that their representation is are far more important than an expensive address. Some law firms might be battling an extremely burdensome and large cost overhead. In other words, to survive, they may need to be a “factory firm” or “volume practice” that needs to process a vast amount of cases to be able to afford their superfluous costs, expenses, and overhead. We aggressively keep costs down so we can focus on you.

Don’t want to be treated like an account number, a settlement figure, or a wheel that needs to be turned to keep the law firm getting paid? We keep our costs low and use this financial freedom for our clients best interests.

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Legal Consultations

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Hours Open Every Week

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Clients & Cases Managed

Wrongful Termination & Discrimination Questions

To Ask During Your Free Lawyer Consultation

  • =What does an employment discrimination lawyer do?

  • =Do I need an employment lawyer?

  • =Can a discrimination attorney really help my case, even if I still work there?

  • =When should I hire an employment discrimination law firm? 

  • =Is discrimination really that common?

  • =How do you hire a discrimination attorney?

  • =How do I know when I need an employment lawyer?

  • =When should I address discrimination at the office?

  • =What is my discrimination case worth?

  • =Do I have a discrimination case?

I trusted Mr. Kraemer with a rather difficult period of time for my family, and we came out on top. He is trustworthy and honest, incredibly helpful, and understanding. Five stars aren’t enough! Him and his staff are well experienced, and won’t let up until the truth is known and justice is served. Michael, it’s been a pleasure. I hope I never need your services again! If I do, I will not hesitate to give you a call.

Bob B.

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Halfway to wrongful termination help. If you don't get paid, neither do we. All you need to do is call MKO!

Employment Law Ready✔ ™

Michael Kraemer was the only lawyer who took my case and would be the only lawyer I’d rely on. He kept me informed and was very intellectual on the whole subject that my case was revolved around. I give Mr. Kraemer a 10 out of 10 and I would refer him and his associates to anyone who wants a well defined lawyer.

Andrew L.

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Wrongful Termination

We help people fired, or soon to be fired, when they have been treated unfairly, illegally, or unjustly.

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Medical Accommodations

Employees needing physical or mental health/wellness accommodations are protected.

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Disability Discrimination

This is so broadly defined that most health conditions can be considered disabilities. 

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Age Discrimination

For those over 40 years old (but older is preferred) that experience bias based on your age.

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Employment Discrimination

Race, religion, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), orientation, disability.

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EEOC or PHRC Agencies

Aggressive lawyering in the state and federal agencies can mean quick, quiet, and lucrative resolutions.

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Professional Exit Strategies

Cut your losses, leave winning, or remove yourself from a bad workplace. You might need an exit strategy.

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Sexual Harassment

A range of actions from mild transgressions to sexual abuse or sexual assault. A highly serious offense.

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