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Employment Discrimination

People who are treated differently in the workplace based upon their race, (color, nationality, ethnic or national origins), religion, sexual preference/orientation, age or gender are all victims of employment discrimination. Pregnancy discrimination can also occur in the work field.

Race Discrimination: Involves differential treatment or harassment of an employee based on his or her race or national origin. Race discrimination can also be perceived characteristics or stereotypes associated with a particular race or ethnic group. People of all races and national origins must be treated equally in all aspects of the employment process, including help-wanted ads, interviews, pre-employment testing, hiring, job assignments, shift assignments, promotions, compensation, benefits, job training, layoffs or termination.

Religious Discrimination: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment. The Act also requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee or prospective employee, unless to do so would create an undue hardship upon the employer.

Sexual Preference/ Sexual Orientation: Discrimination against employees based on sexual orientation is prohibited in New York and many other states. There are many state, city and county laws under which an employee can bring suit for discrimination based on sexual orientation. The following states have particularly strong local laws against sexual orientation discrimination: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

In addition, the following cities have particularly strong local laws against sexual orientation: San Francisco, San Diego, Oakland, Los Angeles, Columbus, Minneapolis, and St. Louis. Other states, cities and counties have varying laws against sexual orientation discrimination as well. Certain provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 have been interpreted to protect many federal employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Age Discrimination: The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits hiring or firing employees on the basis of age. Employers also may not force employees to retire before age 70, deny promotions based on age, or punish older workers with reduced pay or benefits. The ADEA only applies to workers aged 40 and over. Therefore, not hiring someone age 45 because of age considerations would be disallowed; but not hiring someone age 22 based on age would be allowed. Most states also have various age discrimination laws that are similar to the federal ADEA.

Gender Discrimination: Despite many improvements in the workplace for women, female employees continue to struggle for equal pay, equal opportunity to high level promotions, and an environment free of sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination and violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Today, women make up only 3.1% of the senior executives at Fortune 500 companies. Studies also suggest that between 40% and 70% of women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.

Pregnancy Discrimination: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, or PDA, states that it is illegal for employers to intentionally discriminate against a pregnant employee, or to maintain a company policy which, intentionally or unintentionally, adversely affects pregnant employees. An employer also cannot discriminate on the basis of childbirth or related medical conditions, and must give the same treatment and benefits to pregnant employees as it does to other temporarily disabled employees.

If you or a loved one have been discriminated against at your place of employment, please fill out the form at the right for a free case evaluation by a qualified employment discrimination attorney.