Greetings,

With ADA anniversary comming up, I will be posing information from
my resources.  Each day of this week I will post some valuable
information to the Deaf and Disability community.

Today's Resource :

"What you should do in the event you feel you have been
or about to be discriminated against."

--1) Make a journal or diary and note all the actions of the people
  who are working against you. Note your feelings to these actions and
  how they affect the way you are living at home and how they affect
  your social life.  The journal will be valuable when you want to claim
  psychological damages.

--2) Gather info on people who decided against you and most importantly
  WITNESSES who will testify in your favor. Get copies of your employee
  file, all papers you have received from them and all information regarding
  the position you wanted including ads on walls, newspaper.  You will have
  to do this secretly.  And most importantly, MAKE COPIES OF ALL THE PAPERS
  PERTAINING TO YOUR CASE AND HIDE THEM IN A RELATIVE'S HOUSE OR ANY OTHER
  SECURE LOCATION LIKE A FRIEND'S HOUSE OR A LOCKBOX IN A STORAGE FACILITY.

--3) File a protest with your employer's human resources, union, and
  Labor Department. Make sure you have all copies of the protests in a
  secure place.

--4) Contact the Fair Employment and Housing Dept and schedule an appt
  with them.  Filing a complaint with this agency will preserve your right
  to sue the person(s) involved.  Try to get the complaint in no later than
  10 months to ensure you are within the statute of limitations.

--5) Contact your local Deaf/Disability association for referrals to an
  attorney. Be very patient with the attorney's questions to you.  Lawyer
  'shopping' is HARD WORK that PAY$ very well. This phase can get very
  fustrating.  Try to bear with their slow speed as they usually have
  other cases to take care of before yours.  Once you have retained an
  attorney, HE/SHE is in charge of ALL of the elements that goes into the
  case. The average time a case is resolved is 3-8 years.

--6) BE READY TO LEAVE WORK. Update your resume and seek employment
  elsewhere. Or have all information regarding disability, SSI, Workman's
  Compensation ready for you in the event you are discharged or become unable
  to work for that company.  If that is the case, try to get on disability
  leave immediately after their adversive actions against you. Have a
  doctor/psychologist information ready as well. Make sure you consult
  an attorney before leaving work.

--7) SILENCE UNTIL CASE IS SETTLED. Telling others of this case could weaken
  your case as the people who you are suing may find out from your friends and
  build up a defense.  The surprise element is very cruicial to your case and
  has many advantages.  Make sure you discuss this with your attorney before
  you go public with the case.

I hope you find these tips helpful.

Richard Roehm
         ,,,
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 DEAF WATCH                           Orange County, California
 Richard Roehm
 Chief Editor              Internet : Deaf@activist.com
                                      Deaf_activist@deafwatch.com
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                                      Nesmuth@concentric.net
                  DEAF WATCH
                  Http://www.deafwatch.com
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Deaf Watch will continue to aggressively pursue justice, fairness,
and equality for the Deaf Community as it has been doing since November
1996.  We have chosen that EDUCATION is the best way accomplish this
objective.