Discrimination
To discriminate against someone means to treat that person differently, or less favorably than another. There are many types of workplace discrimination that can give rise to a lawsuit if the discrimination is based on violations of a person’s protected status under various federal laws. In the employment context this includes hiring, promotions, and pay.
For instance, the ADA (Americans with Disability Act) makes it unlawful to discriminate against people with a disability in employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government programs and services. In the employment context, under Title I of the ADA, protections are provided for both employees and job seekers.
The ADEA (Age Discrimination and Employment Act) makes it unlawful to discriminate against job applicants and employees who are 40 years of age and older in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, and/or terms, conditions or privileges of employment.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII makes it unlawful in hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral, and other aspects of employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This includes discrimination based on pregnancy, gender identity and sexual orientation.
Harassment
Harassment is a form of employment discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the ADEA, and/or the ADA. In addition to these federal laws, States have also passed civil rights laws that may be the same, similar to, or provide more protections than their federal counterparts.
Workplace harassment is defined as unwelcome conduct by managers, co-workers, or others in your workplace, because of your race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, disability, age (age 40 or older) or genetic information. Types of harassment include offensive jokes and objects or pictures, name calling and slurs, mockery and insults, intimidation, physical assaults or threats that result in interference with work performance.
It is important to note that the harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-workers, an agent of the employer, and even a non-employee. In addition, the victim does not have to be the person harassed, but can be anyone affected by the offensive conduct. Furthermore, the unlawful harassment does not have to include economic injury to, or discharge of the victim.
If you believe you are experiencing harassment in your place of work that interferes with work performance, we can help.
Pay Disparity/Compensation Discrimination
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is part of the equal pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Pay disparity, or pay inequity, occurs when employees performing similar or comparable work are paid differently for reasons that aren’t justified by neutral, job-related factors such as skill, tenure, qualification and working conditions.
The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal under the law. Job content and not job titles determine whether the jobs are substantially equal. All forms of pay are covered under the Equal Pay Act, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit sharing, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, cleaning and gasoline allowances, hotel and travel accommodations/reimbursements, and benefits. Moreover, if there is an inequality in wages between men and women, employers may not reduce wages for either sex to equalize pay.
There is no doubt that there is a gender pay gap between men and women, which can be exacerbated by race and ethnicity, disability, access to education, and age. If you believe you are experiencing compensation discrimination due to pay disparity, we can help.
Retaliation
It is unlawful for employees to be retaliated against for asserting their rights in the workplace. Many federal and state laws provide anti-retaliation and whistleblower protections for employees who have suffered an adverse employment action such as demotion or being passed over for a raise because you complained to the employer about a wage, health and safety, or any other employment problem. This also includes being treated differently after you have assisted with a job discrimination proceeding, such as an investigation or participating in a lawsuit.
If you believe you are being treated differently or less favorably than another employee because of your status or that you have been retaliated against for speaking up about workplace issues, we can help.
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