Hello, and thank you for contacting Just Answer.

On what grounds are you looking to sue your former employer? On the grounds that they fought your Unemployment Benefits?

Ok, thank you for the extra information. I wanted to make sure that you were pursuing something that is actually against the law (often former employees will want to pursue an employer but don't have grounds to do so). Age discrimination is a violation of both state and federal law. However, there are a number of reasons why an attorney may choose not to take a case.

First, just because the state found that you were not terminated for cause, does not mean there was necessarily a finding of age discrimination, just that you are entitled to unemployment because you were not terminated for just

cause.

So, a finding that you are eligible for unemployment benefits is not necessarily indicative that you have a strong age discrimination case.

Second, it may be that you are actually past the statute of limitations. The only SOL that I am finding under state discrimination laws is that (1) a complaint with the Workforce Commission must be filed within 180 days of the alleged discrimination, and (2) once a right to sue letter has been issued, a suit must be initiated within 60 days (Texas Labor Code sections 21. 202 and 21.254)

I am not finding anything regarding a 2 year sol, did this attorney give you a basis under which you still had a right to sue for 2 years under state law?

Further, even if you are still within the statute of limitations, it may be that the attorneys are seeing a weakness in your case that will make it difficult to recover damages for you (and thus make it difficult for them to make any money on the case). The most common weakness, of course, is a lack of evidence of differential treatment because of age.

Ultimately, it is difficult to say why any particular attorney would not take a case, but those are the most common reasons in an employment discrimination case (1) the statute of limitations has passed, or (2) there is a lack of evidence/potential for evidence to come up.

If you have not tried it yet, one place to look for an attorney is the Texas State Bar Association's referral service. You may, if you have not used the service yet, have better luck finding an Employment Law attorney to take your case through this service. They can be reached at:

http://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Lawyer_Referral_Service_LRIS_

Ultimately, it can take some time to find the right attorney to assist you, and each individual attorney has to make a determination as to whether or not they think you have a claim.

I hope this information helps, and let me know if you have any further questions or require additional information.

If you do not have any further questions, please remember to RATE my answer AT LEAST 3 out of 5 so that I can receive credit for my work.

http://www.scbar.org/MemberResources/LawyerReferralService.aspx

You may very well be correct. Certainly circumstantial evidence that you were passed over for promotion because of your age could be used to show discrimination, and it is not uncommon for both the EEOC and state agency to not pursue a good claim due to lack of resources, not because it is not a good claim. Having said that, the question becomes are you still within the statute of limitations, and can you find an attorney to assist you.

As you can see on your state right to sue letter, a suit must be initiated within 60 days of your receipt of the right to sue letter, not 2 years. I am not sure where the 2 years number came from, but I cannot find a 2 year statute of limitations for an employment discrimination suit at the state level.

As for finding an attorney, as I stated above there are a number of reasons why particular attorneys will not take a case, and the most common one is that they do so see enough evidence to file suit (regardless of what you are I might think). One issue may also be if they were not employment law attorneys, they may not have been comfortable taking the case. One thing to do if you contact the State Bar Association referral service:

http://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Lawyer_Referral_Service_LRIS_

is to make sure that they are referring you to someone that has experience in employment discrimination law.

It certainly sounds as if you have facts that would be helpful in attempts to prove employment discrimination. It may be that you just haven't spoken with the proper attorney yet. Contacting the Bar Association may help get you in touch with an attorney that can help.

I hope this helps further, but let me know if you require any additional information. If you do not require additional information, please remember to RATE my answer AT LEAST 3 out of 5 so that I can receive credit for my work.

It has been my pleasure to assist where I can, and I wish you the best of luck in resolving this situation, I can certainly appreciate how frustrating such issues can be. If you do not have any further questions, please remember to RATE my answer so that I can receive credit for my work.

Good luck to you.