Hire a labor attorney and sue for mental harrassment. You should never resign - make them get rid of you so you can collect unemployment.
A labor attorney?? Labor attorneys are union attorneys and they will not help...she quit and that’s all she could have done to save her pride and dignity. I hear it all day long as well and I work with labor attorneys - one person had to take down a small 2x3 inch mccain card off her cork board but yet others can have door size obama signs on their office. Political affiliation does not rise to the level of protected class for discrimination purposes - which really sucks.
True, I found out the hard way that if they create a hostile enough work environment to get to you resign, you have almost no chance of collecting unemployment insurance.
She seems to have a great case. It's going to take time, but she will get some big bucks in the end. Under the apparent circumstances, she has a great chance of getting unemployment, and should do so. She also has a civil rights action against the employer under the First and fourtheenth amendments.
You hit the nail right on the head. You could EASILY win a wrongful termination lawsuit, and a harassment lawsuit except that you resigned. All you had to do was document the harassment, and the differences in treatment, file it as a formal complaint with the HR office and put on the bottom of the letter that it is being copied to the EEOC. Then send them a copy of the letter too.
Also, you MUST note in your letter that you expect a retaliation campaign against you by the company for standing up for your rights and you are seeing signs that they are trying to artificially build a fake case of non-performance against you even though you have had numerous great reviews in the past.
That will keep them WAY away from you for a long time. If the letter is well written that you send to their HR department you might also ask for a conference with the company’s labor attorney and an EEOC representative because of the harassment and the stress and pressure you are feeling at work.