One very sensitive topic that you may have to deal with at your job is workplace discrimination. If you are not sure if your rights are being violated, it helps to know if you have a valid case on hand.

What is Workplace Discrimination?

It helps to start by knowing how workplace discrimination laws are actually defined. Know that it is unlawful for an employer to refuse employment to someone because of a protected characteristic. Employment ranges from hiring them for the job in the first place, cutting hours, or reducing their pay. While there is so much more behind the laws of workplace discrimination, such as how it may only apply to companies of certain sizes, it is the most important part of workplace discrimination law that you need to be aware of.

What are Protected Characteristics?

There are a few protected characteristics at the federal level that apply to everyone across the country. These include race, religion, national origin, color, physical disabilities, pregnancy status, and age. Your state may also have specific things that they protect as well, such as medical conditions, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, military status, and even your ancestry. Each characteristic has its own legal definition, which is why it's important to work with a lawyer to know how your protected characteristic can apply to workplace discrimination

What are Some Examples of Workplace Discrimination

A good example of a protected characteristic is if someone has a medical condition. The treatment for the medical condition may require that they be 15 minutes late to work once a week, and the employee has been told by HR that they should be accommodated for their medical condition. However, the employee's boss is quite vocal that they only want healthy people on their team, and does not agree with the decision by HR. Several weeks later, the employee's boss finds a reason to fire them due to poor performance, even though there were no indicators that something was wrong. This could be an example of being discriminated against due to a medical condition.

How Can You Win a Workplace Discrimination Case?

The key to winning a case is Workplace Discrimination Lawyer Services. If you will be able to prove to a judge or jury that the protected characteristic was the reason for your employment problem. In the example of the employee with the medical condition, the vocal comments from their boss about wanting to work with healthy people could be enough to prove your case. Even without those comments, the length of time between the announcement of the medical condition, the lack of any warning for poor performance, and eventually being fired could be used to tie them all together to win the case in court.