Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace
It is an unfortunate fact that discrimination and harassment do sometimes happen in the workkplace. However, there are federal and state laws that prohibit discrimination against a job applicant or employee, which are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The federal laws currently in place include:
-Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964- This Act makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The Supreme Court ruled in June of 2020 that these protections must also be applied to LGBTQ+ employees. Most of the Title VII laws apply if you are in a workplace with at least 15 employees.
-The Pregnancy Discrimination Act-This amendment to Title VII expands the protections regarding “sex” to include prohibiting sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy., childbirth and/or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth.
-The Equal Pay Act of 1963- This Act prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women who perform equal work in the same workplace.
-The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967- Protects employees or future employees who are 40 or older from discrimination in the workplace. There must be at least 20 employees in that workplace for this law to apply.
-Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990- This Act, usually called the ADA, makes it illegal to discriminate against a qualified person with a disability from being hired or during their employment. Again, there must be at least 15 employees in the workplace for this law to apply. It also requires employers to make “reasonable accommodations” for disabled employees to perform their jobs.
The EEOC:
The EEOC enforces these laws, and for them to be enforced the employee is required to file a “Charge of Discrimination” with the EEOC before you can file a job discrimination lawsuit against your employer, with the exception of the Equal Pay Act. You have 180 days from the time of the discriminatory act to file a charge You can go to https://www.eeoc.gov for more information. The EEOC website has a lot of information about job discrimination laws on eeoc.gov as well and has a portal through which you can make inquiries or schedule an appointment. It also explains how to prepare a Charge of Discrimination.
Retaliation:
The EEOC laws prohibit punishing job applicants or employees for asserting their rights to be free from employment discrimination including harassment. Asserting your rights as an employee is called “protected activity”, and it can take many forms. For example, it is unlawful to reprimand the employee or give a performance evaluation that is lower than it should be; to transfer the employee to a less desirable position; engage in verbal or physical abuse; threaten to make, or actually make reports to authorities (such as reporting immigration status or contacting the police): to increase scrutiny; to spread false rumors, treat a family member negatively (for example, to cancel a contract with the person’s spouse; or to make the person’s work more difficult (for example, punishing an employee for an EEOC complaint by purposefully changing their work schedule to conflict with family responsibilities.
Harassment in the workplace:
Harassment in the workplace based on the protected classes of Title VII is also prohibited under state and federal law. These protections prohibit harassment when it is so severe or pervasive that it creates a hostile work environment. According to the EEOC, harassment is illegal when it I s so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted). If you are harassed in the workplace, contact the EEOC about going forward with a claim.
Although discrimination and harassment are terrible, it is good to know your rights and how to enforce them. No one should tolerate them as part of their employment!