Workflow Overview - Right To Sue
AA-01006
Introduction
Below, we will demonstrate the process that a new complainant will go through to register a Right To Sue notice with the DFEH. We will first demonstrate how the complainant will create an account and access their document. Each facet of the account registration and intake process is thoroughly detailed below.
Table of Contents
1. Registering a Right To Sue Request
2. The Right To Sue Intake Form
3. Editing an Unsubmitted Intake Form
Registering a Right To Sue Request
When a complainant first visits the DFEH Website, they will be greeted by the Main Page.
From this page, they can file a complaint by clicking the "File A Complaint" link at the bottom. This will bring up the pre-screening questions.
These questions will take the form of a Jurisdiction Questionnaire. Here, the complainant is asked a series of questions to validate if DFEH has jurisdiction. The first question they will be asked is whether they want to file a complaint for investigation or whether they creating an employment complaint for filing purposes only. If the latter is chosen, the user will be notified of their right to sue (RTS) and will skip forward to Account Creation.
Once the complainant has read the notice, then they can proceed to register a new account by clicking the Continue button.
The complainant will be prompted to enter their first and last name, phone number, email address, and password. Upon entering and verifying this information and clicking the Sign-Up button, an email will be generated and sent to the email address provided.
The user must then click on the link provided in the email to finish account creation. Below is an example of a confirmation email sent by HoudiniESQ.
Once the link is clicked, the account is properly created within HoudiniESQ. The user is then taken to the login screen.
In addition, an email is sent containing the complaintant's login details as a reminder.
The complainant will then log into the DFEH Remote Client Access system, where they will find the Intake form. This form will allow them to enter all pertinent information about their case.
The first screen that the complainant will see upon logging in is the Disclaimer. By clicking the Acknowledge button at the bottom, the complaintant is acknowledging and agreeing to the terms in the notice in full. The complainant can opt out of this agreement by clicking the Logout button; however, in order to proceed to be able to file the complaint, they MUST acknowledge the terms to continue.
Next, instructions will be provided for the complainant, as well as information about how the complaint will be handled once submitted. Once the user clicks Next, they will be able to fill out the complaint.
The complainant can navigate to any of the fields they wish using the buttons to the left. They can also choose to Logout if they do not have time to finish the Intake form, and they will be able to complete it at a later date.
The Name & Address Form will allow the user to complete filling out details about their name, address, phone and email information. Some of this is ported over from account creation, but all of the fields outlined in red are required before the complainant can proceed.
Next, the complainant will fill out the Demographics form. This form can quickly and easily allow us to gather race, gender, and ethnic information that may be useful in the case, as well as religious preferences. This information will be used for Auto-Assignment to ensure the most qualified staff member is handling the case. The complainant may also opt to not fill out any of this information; however, the Age field is required. Once they are finished, the complainant can click Next to continue to the Case Details form.
The Case Details form will let the complaintant fill out case information fields directly from the Matter Type that have been designated with the Intake Designer. These will be saved to the Complaint. The example we are using here is the Right To Sue PCQ form. Once the complaintant is finished filling out all pertinent fields, they can click Next to move on to the next form. Below we will descibe the fields that appear briefly.
Date Of Incident: You can use the provided Date field to choose the last known date on which harmful actions occurred according to the complaint.
Discrimination Basis: The complainant can select one or more possible causes for the harmful acts which were suffered.
As A Result: The complainant can select one or more injuries which were suffered as a result of the discrimination.
Have An Attorney: Select "yes" or "no" from the drop down menu in regards to whether the Complainant has an Attorney who has agreed to represent them in court for this case.
The Case Notes form allows you to fill in any notes that the complaintant may want to add to the Complaint. These will be saved into the Notes tab of the Complaint for review later. These are entirely optional.
The complainant can also add Related Parties (such as Co-Respondants) as Contacts. Simply click one of the Related Party slots which says "add" and enter their information. If the Related Party is a Respondent, then the case will be assigned based on their return address information. The intended design is to add a Respondent first, then add Co-Respondants (up to 10) and optionally a Respondent Representative (or Agent of Service), and a Witness after that. The complainant can skip any of these. Once finished, the complaintant can move on to the next form.
In addition, the complainant can upload files that are related to the complaint using the "Upload Files" button on the menu. Clicking on this button will display a List View of all the files which are currently associated with the case. Clicking he Add (+) button on the List View will allow them to upload files with the Bulk Uploader tool.
The Bulk Uploader will allow the complainant to simply click Add Files to select files from their operating system of choice. They can remove files with the Remove Selected button.
When the complaintant has finished editing the Intake form, they can click on the "submit" button to save the information they have entered. The resulting case will then be closed within HoudiniESQ and their Right To Sue document will automatically be generated and emailed to them.
The complainant will receive a template-generated email with their PDF document attached.
Editing an Unsubmitted Intake Form
In general it is expected that the majority of DFEH complaints will be filled out online. however, HoudiniESQ does provide DFEH staff with access to incomplete Intake forms and the ability to create Intake forms on behalf of a Complainant. An example would be a Complainant is unable to complete the Intake form online, doesn’t understand a specific question or simply does not have Internet access. In this case the Complainant calls the Call Center and ask for assistance. The Call Center Staff Member can filter the Matter/Case/Complaint Dashboard to view only Intake records. The Call Center Staff can then find the Complainants incomplete Intake form by last name, phone number or email address. From this point forward the Call Center Staff Member can assist the Complainant with their Complaint and complete the Intake process on their behalf.
Assisting a complainant in this process is simple. First, go to the Matter Dashboard, change the Matter filter drop-down at the top to Intake, find the Intake form in question and click "Complete Intake".
The Intake Form will be displayed, with all the functionality of the version the Complaintant would see from the RCA. From here, simply assist the complaintant in the process of filling out the Intake form, then Submit the form using the "submit" action at the bottom of the frame on the left hand side.
