Dan

As an Asian American plaintiff alleging racial discrimination against an insurance company, I learned the hard way how biased the federal legal system can be against employment discrimination victims. After enduring harassment and retaliation, I took my case to the EEOC thinking they would help. But my battle for justice had only begun.

I was devastated when the EEOC declined to pick up my case. They take very few from the thousands filed each year. So I proceeded alone in federal court, only to face dismissal through an unfair “summary judgment” process that favors employers. I would not be surprised if this proceeding were a joint creation between Corporate America and the Courts to deny justice to victims of discrimination.

At my company, I was racially harassed about my Chinese features and denied a justified salary increase. Then HR pressured me to transfer departments, claiming it would be safe. Weeks later, I was laid off again in clear retaliation.

Naively, I hoped the courts would recognize the injustice. The first thing the employer does when you file your case with the Federal Court is to request Summary Judgement to throw your case out. But the summary judgment hearing was a sham. The employer got opening and closing arguments to frame the narrative their way. I only had one brief to make my whole case. My facts were whitewashed and claims trivialized.

In my specific case, a federal judge made their decision to grant the employer Summary Judgment based on an unprecedented ruling that whether a joke or comment is hurtful or offensive should be based from the point of view of the speaker of such comments, and not from the victim’s perspective. I am no lawyer, but this judge effectively ruled that there is no such thing as hate or offensive speech, as it is based from the point of view of the speaker. I couldn’t believe it. 

In my appeal of the judge’s decision all the way to the US Supreme Court, I pointed out that in addition to the judge’s unprecedented ruling, they demonstrated hostile bias towards me, denying me access to emails during discovery and ordering me to pay the legal expenses of the company.

My appeals were denied by both the Federal Appeals Court and US Supreme Court without any comments. Based on my experience, I do not recommend going to the EEOC as your first option.  In my opinion, I suggest you should file your complaint to a municipal or State Division of Human Rights, and hope you could get a trial at a municipal or State Court.  The chance of a Federal Judge granting you a Jury trial in a federal court is extremely low.

The deck remains stacked against Asian Americans and other minorities who dare speak out against discrimination. But by exposing the systemic roadblocks denying us due process, we can slowly dismantle them. My case may be closed, but my voice remains strong. I really appreciate Stand with Asian Americans for giving me and others the platform to share our stories.