Skip to main content
Employment Law

Discrimination

This guide discusses discrimination and different forms that can occur in the workplace. Keep reading to learn more about the various laws that protect you from discrimination in the workplace and how you can get connected to an independent employment law attorney that subscribes to the website.

What is Discrimination?

Discrimination in the workplace takes place when a person or group is treated unfairly or unequally because of the specific characteristics they possess. These protected characteristics include race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, pregnancy, disability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or national origin. When discrimination occurs it affects the victim’s well-being and can emerge in a number of ways including inflicting low self-esteem, fear and stress and could even lead to poor health. Employment laws are the main way of protecting employees from discrimination and its negative effects.

Examples of Discrimination

There are several types of discrimination which include the following:

  • direct discrimination, when no effort is made to conceal it;
  • indirect discrimination, which may be difficult for the victim to prove its presence because the employer tries to conceal it, like not putting an employee of a certain color in a position which involves constant contact with the public;
  • harassment of an employee, such as taunting, leading to the employee voluntarily resigning from a job;
  • retaliation, in which an employer has punished an employee for whistleblowing such as wrongfully terminating.

Protected Classes Under Employment Laws

There are several protected classes in a workplace which are protected by employment laws. These include the following:

  • race and ethnicity;
  • gender and gender identity;
  • age;
  • disability;
  • religion;
  • sexual orientation.

Laws that Protect You from Discrimination at Work

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on their race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Title VII protection covers employment decisions, including recruitment, selections, terminations, and other decisions concerning terms and conditions of employment. For example, the law prohibits discrimination based on the individual’s color when it comes to all aspects of employment, such as hiring, firing, amount of pay, type of job assignments, offering promotions, being subjected to a layoff, further training opportunities and fringe benefits. As well as federal laws, states have anti-discrimination laws too.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) makes it unlawful to discriminate against people with disabilities in specific areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government' programs and services. This law applies to both young and old workers.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination based on age when hiring, promoting, discharging, compensating, or terms, offering privileges of employment.

The role of anti-discrimination policies is to help ensure that nobody is denied their rights at work because of unique features they possess which they are unable to control such as their race, color, age, gender, religion, pregnancy status, disability and national or social origin.

Forms of Discrimination in the Workplace

Employers often find ways to discriminate against employees which are not easily recognizable such as when hiring and recruiting new employees and offering promotions to present employees. In both situations all employees or potential employees must not be the subject of discrimination. If an employee believes that he or she has been a victim of discrimination when it comes to being offered promotion and the incident can be proved, it may be possible to request compensation from the employer.

Another common form of discrimination in the workplace is when a man is paid more for doing the same job as the female counterpart. Pay and compensation disparities such as paying more to a man than a woman are illegal as they are a form of discrimination.

If an employer finds it hard to justify firing an employee due to a protected characteristic, the employer may harass the employee by poking fun at the person’s skin color or dress until the work environment becomes too hostile for the employee to bear, forcing a resignation. Harassment is a form of employment discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, (ADA) and is not permissible.

Denial of reasonable accommodation, such as providing ramps throughout a workplace enabling easier access for disabled workers is a form of discrimination as well.

Terminating an employee by retaliating for informing authorities of illegal activities which are taking place in the workplace such as wage theft and not paying workers compensation insurance premiums is discrimination and is illegal under federal laws.

Employer Responsibilities and Liability Against Discrimination

All employers with 15 or more employees have the duty to prevent discrimination and promote equal opportunity as described in the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in their workplaces. Employers should also be developing and implementing anti-discrimination policies such as providing training and education programs and acting promptly and effectively when responding to discrimination complaints.

The employer is liable for acts of discrimination against employees even if an individual supervisor was the one discriminating. This is because it is the employer’s legal responsibility to maintain a safe workplace free of discrimination.

How to Report Discrimination

The law encourages victims of discrimination to report the incidents so that the employer can be made accountable. A job discrimination complaint may be filed by mail or in person at the nearest EEOC office. You will be asked to provide the following information:

  1. Your name, address, and telephone number if you are the employee who is being treated unfairly;
  2. The name, address, and telephone number of the employer you are filing the complaint against;
  3. A brief description of the event or events that you believe are unfair or harassing; and the dates when these events took place.

Individuals who need assistance to file a complaint for discrimination such as a sign language interpreter, or a foreign language interpreter, you should inform the closest EEOC field office so the best arrangements can be made to receive your complaint. The employee is protected from the employer retaliating by terminating the employee if he or she reports discrimination to the EEOC office.

If you are a federal employee, or job applicant, and you can prove that a federal agency has discriminated against you, you have the right to file a complaint.. You should contact an EEO Counselor at the agency where you work or where you applied for a job. You should make contact with the EEO Counselor within 45 days from the day the discrimination took place.

In most cases, the EEO Counselor will give you the choice of participating either in EEO counseling or in an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program, such as a mediation program.

If you fail to settle the dispute during counseling or through ADR, you can file a formal discrimination complaint against the agency with the agency's EEO Office. You must file within 15 days from the day you receive notice from your EEO Counselor about how to file.

Legal Remedies for Discrimination

Under Title VII, compensatory damages may be awarded to employees who have been subjected to unlawful discrimination. The employer may be told to pay victims for out-of-pocket expenses caused by the discrimination (such as costs associated with a job search or medical expenses if the employee no longer works for the employer and compensate them for any emotional harm suffered such as mental anguish, inconvenience, or loss of enjoyment of life. Punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees, and court costs may also be available to the employee depending on the circumstances of the discrimination.

Remedies for Workplace Discrimination

Whenever discrimination is found in employment, the law requires that the victim of discrimination is in the same position (or almost the same) as if discrimination had never taken place.

The remedies will depend upon the act of discrimination and the effect it has had on the victim. For example, if somebody is not chosen for a job or promotion because of discrimination, the remedy could include placement in the job and/or back pay and the benefits the person would have received. The employer will also be told to stop any discriminatory practices and take steps to stop future discrimination. A victim of discrimination may be able to recover attorney's fees, witnesses’ fees, and court costs.

Compensatory and punitive damages could be awarded when intentional discrimination by the employer has taken place based on one of the employee’s characteristics such as race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy status, gender identity, and sexual orientation, religion, disability, or genetic information.. These damages pay victims out-of-pocket expenses incurred due to the discrimination and also compensate them for any emotional harm they have suffered, such as mental anguish, inconvenience, or loss of enjoyment of life).

Punitive damages could be awarded to punish an employer who has committed a particularly reckless or malicious act of discrimination.

Work with an Employment Law Lawyer

If you have experienced discrimination at work you should consider contacting an employment law lawyer. The lawyer can contact your employer regarding the act of discrimination and help arrange a mediation session. If that fails the lawyer can help you file a case of discrimination in court for compensation. Not all lawyers ask for upfront payments for their work but work on a contingency fee arrangement which means they will only ask for their fees to be paid once the case of discrimination has been won. Fill out a Free Case Evaluation to get connected with an independent employment law attorney who subscribes to the website and may be able to help with your discrimination case. 

Additional Resources 

Parent node
Employment Law