Employment Discrimination

By law, your employer must not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age (over 40), citizenship, pregnancy, or disability or sexual orientation. If you find yourself a victim of workplace discrimination, and have tried all other options, you may have no choice but to sue your employer.

What constitutes Discrimination?

Discrimination refers to making employment decisions such as hiring, firing, promotion, pay raises, benefits, work assignments, leaves of absence or almost any other aspect of employment in a discriminatory way based upon one of the prohibited bases.

I’ve suffered discrimination. What should I do?

You must inform your employer of the discriminatory treatment (i.e., complain). This is important, as the law requires that the employer investigate all claims of discrimination and take immediate and appropriate action to remedy the situation.

What if my employer retaliates against me?

It is against the law for an employer to retaliate against a victim of discrimination. Employers do sometimes retaliate against an employee for raising claims -- but they do so at their own peril. Retaliation could be any of the following actions: firing, denial of promotions, denial of pay raises, altering work assignments, denial of leaves of absence, or other adverse actions in almost any other aspect of employment. Any of these adverse actions taken against an employee within a relatively short time period after the employee complains of discrimination will be considered suspect. Especially when the employee is fired shortly after complaining. If an adverse action is later found to be in retaliation for the complaint, the employer will be subjected to separate liability for violation laws -- whether the discrimination is proven to have occurred or not. An employee has an absolute right to complain about discrimination or harassment without fear of retaliation by his or her employer.

What if the discrimination continues?

Before a lawsuit can be filed against an employer for discrimination, an employee must file a complaint with either the authority charged with investigating such complaints. This is designed to allow the employer time to remedy its actions prior to being sued. In many cases, it is merely a formality that must be taken care of prior to a lawsuit.

Do I need a lawyer?

If your complaint goes nowhere, you can still strike back in court. The complaint process within companies and through the official agencies charged to investigate complaints can leave employees empty-handed and unsatisfied. Employees have a right to sue an employer for violations of their rights. If violations of the law are shown, the employee's recovery may include his or her past lost wages and benefits, future wage loss, attorney fees, and punitive damages. Punitive damages are calculated in part on the earnings of the company.