New Mexico and El Paso, Texas Employment Attorney · No Fee Unless We Win · (915) 875-0003

Home / What We Will Ask You

Before You Start

What we will ask you.

These are the questions on the intake form, listed here so you can see them before you begin. Nothing on this page is a form. There is nothing to fill out or send.

The form takes about 20 minutes. A few things make your answers much more useful:

Tell it in order. What you did, when your employer learned of it, and what happened to you afterward, earliest first, with dates and with people’s own words where you remember them. The timeline matters more than anything else, and the form is where to give it.
Be specific. Real dates, names, and what was actually said, rather than conclusions.
“I don’t know” is a real answer. It is far more useful than a guess presented as a fact.

One note for your protection: what you tell this office during intake is a communication to a lawyer about your situation. Notes kept at home to jog your memory, like a diary or a running log, are a different thing, and in a lawsuit they can end up being read by your employer’s lawyers. So put the effort into your answers on the form.

Section 01

About you and how you found us

Contact details, and how you found the office. Nothing here is hard.

Your full name
Phone number
Email address
How did you hear about us?

1 follow-up question in this section appears only if your answer calls for it.

Section 02

Your job

Where you worked and when. Get the employer's legal name right if you can — it is on your paycheck or W-2, and it is not always the name on the sign.

Employer's full name
Give the full name as it appears on your paycheck or W-2 — not a nickname or store number.
Your job title
Where did you physically work — city
If you worked remotely, give the city you worked from.
Where did you physically work — state
Date you were hired
Your best estimate is fine if you don't remember the exact day.
Are you still employed there?
Date your employment ended — your last day

3 follow-up questions in this section appear only if your answer calls for them.

Section 03

Your employer

Who signs your paycheck. This decides which laws reach your employer at all — the New Mexico Whistleblower Protection Act, for instance, applies only to public employers.

Who owns or runs the place you worked?
Pick the one that best describes who issues your paycheck.
Did you physically work on a military base, national laboratory, or other federal property?
Were you hired and/or paid through a staffing or temp agency?
About how many employees does this employer have?
Your rate of pay
An hourly rate or an annual salary — whichever you were paid. For example: "$18.50 per hour" or "$62,000 per year."
Hours you normally worked per week
Your immediate supervisor's name and title
Who made the decision to fire, demote, or discipline you?
If you don't know, say so.

1 follow-up question in this section appears only if your answer calls for it.

Section 04

What you did

The heart of it. Almost every case this office takes begins with something the employee did that the law protects. What you did, who knew, and when.

Before this happened, did you complain about or report any of the following?
Did you ask for a disability accommodation, medical leave, or FMLA leave?
Did you file a workers' compensation claim or report a work injury?
Who did you complain to? Name and title.
Date of your first complaint
Date of your most recent complaint
How did you complain?
How do you know the person who acted against you knew about your complaint?
What happened after you complained?

3 follow-up questions in this section appear only if your answer calls for them.

Section 05

What happened to you afterward

What the employer did next, and what it said the reason was. Give their words, not your summary of them.

What happened to you?
Check everything that applies.
Date that happened
If more than one thing happened, give the date of the most serious one.
What reason did the employer give you?
Use their words, and say whether you got it in writing.
Before any of this, had you ever been written up, disciplined, or given a poor review?
A clean record that suddenly is not clean is one of the most telling facts in these cases, so please answer it either way.
Did discipline, warnings, or criticism start or increase after the events in section 04?
Has the employer's stated reason changed at any point?
One reason at the meeting, a different one in writing, a third one to unemployment.
What do you believe the real reason was?

2 follow-up questions in this section appear only if your answer calls for them.

Section 06

Were you also treated differently because of who you are?

A separate question, and “none of these” is a perfectly good answer. Retaliation does not require it.

Do you believe this happened because of any of the following?
Was anyone outside your group treated better for the same conduct?
Give names and job titles if you can, and say what happened to them.

Section 07

Agency filings and deadlines

Whether an agency is already involved.

Have you filed a charge or complaint with the EEOC, the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division, or the New Mexico Human Rights Bureau?
Have you received a Right to Sue notice, a Notice of Right to File a Civil Action, or an Order of Nondetermination?
Are you aware of any deadlines in your case?

2 follow-up questions in this section appear only if your answer calls for them.

Section 08

Money and where you are now

What this has cost you.

Are you working now?
Have you applied for or received unemployment benefits?
About how much income have you lost so far?
Out-of-pocket costs — insurance, medical, job search
How has this affected you physically or emotionally, and have you seen a doctor or counselor about it?

1 follow-up question in this section appears only if your answer calls for it.

Section 09

Anything that could affect your case

Things that can change or end a claim. Answer these plainly — a problem known early is a problem that can be dealt with.

Did you sign a severance agreement, release, or separation agreement?
Did you sign an arbitration agreement with this employer?
Have you filed for bankruptcy since this began, or is one pending?

Section 10

Your story, in date order

The timeline. This is the single most valuable thing you can give us.

What happened, in date order

When you are ready.

Four quick questions come first. They take about a minute, and they check whether this office can help at all: where you worked, who employed you, what happened, and what you had done beforehand. If the answer is no, you will be told right away, before you spend time on the form.

This office takes cases anywhere in New Mexico, and in Texas only in El Paso County. It represents people whose job has already ended.

Start the four questions → (915) 875-0003

Prefer to talk? Call, and you will be asked these same questions, so it helps to have read them.

Still Deciding

Not sure any of this is you?

Two pages can answer that better than a form. The questions this office asks before taking a case is candid about what is not a case. The retaliation page lays out the situations this office handles, so you can find the one that matches what you did.

Don't Wait

Every one of these claims has a clock on it.

Some deadlines are much shorter than people expect. The sooner you reach out, the more options are still open.

Start My Free Review →Call (915) 875-0003