Discrimination Lawyers

What Exactly Constitutes Discrimination?

In a legal sense, discrimination refers to unfair treatment as a result of your membership in a “protected class.”

Among the protected categories are:

• Race
• Race and ethnicity
• Nationality
• or gender identity
• Sexual inclination
• Age
• status of disability
• military status
• Religion
• even more

Let’s look at two brief instances.

Example A

Consider a scenario in which your boss, a devout Christian, fires you from the company because you are not a practising Christian (you don’t go to church). You are being discriminated against because of your religion, which is prohibited. You might file a claim for losses.

Example B

Let’s say that while you support the Boston Red Sox, your employer cheers for the New York Yankees. Your employer dismisses you because they detest the fact that you cheer for the former foe of their team. Although terminating an employee due to their sports fanaticism is a fairly immature choice, it is not against the law because there is no protected class in this situation.

How Employers Respond To Your Complaints: Retaliation

Retaliation frequently follows discrimination when an employee refuses to put up with the bad behaviour of their employer.

For instance, a company may decide to “penalise” a worker for informing a governmental agency on employment equality about discrimination. Fortunately, it is against the law to engage in such retaliatory behaviour.

Employer retaliatory behaviour can differ significantly from case to case. While one employer might take a “obvious” action like firing you, another employer might take a less overt and sneaky one like making your workplace unfriendly or turning down a legitimate request relating to your employment.

What Is the Value of Your Claim?

It makes sense that persons who have experienced prejudice are interested in the potential worth of their claim. After all, they could wonder if it’s “worth it” to pursue the claim and put themselves through the hassle of a potentially volatile situation.

The fact is that determining a claim’s value cannot be done in a straightforward manner. Depending on the particular circumstances surrounding the employer’s discriminatory behaviour, the value of your discrimination claim will change (and the income that you lost as a result of the discrimination).

For clarity, let’s look at a small example.

Consider the possibility that ageism exists in the workplace. The company is trying to get rid of you, and after giving you a phoney excuse, they terminate you. You are unable to get employment for a further six months after being fired. You would be entitled to at least $50,000 in damages with a

$100,000 yearly salary; further damages for emotional distress, reputational harm, and other factors would probably also apply.

Workplace Discrimination

Workplace discrimination is a common occurrence that can seriously hinder an employee’s capacity to make money and advance in their profession. Thankfully, the law makes an effort to protect workers against unfair treatment at work.

State discrimination regulations in addition to federal anti-discrimination statutes protect you as an employee (which may provide additional, stricter protections than the federal baseline). Laws against discrimination forbid it in all facets of employment, including:

• Hiring and letting go
• compensation and perks
• Fringe advantages
• retiree programmes
• Transfers, layoffs, and promotions
• putting up job postings
• hiring fresh personnel
• training initiatives
• leaving on disability
• improper information disclosure harassment
• Inequitable treatment
• even more

Consider the scenario where you feel it is unjust that you are not granted a bonus based on your sales numbers. You look into the situation more deeply and learn that your company rejected the bonus on the grounds of your gender. If your discrimination allegation was valid, you could file a lawsuit to seek financial compensation.

Employing Legal Counsel in a Discrimination Lawsuit

Before your discrimination lawyer can launch a private action, a discrimination claim must be made with the local Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), regardless of the state’s jurisdiction. To preserve the legal rights that are yours under the circumstances, this claim must be made within 180 days of the incident. Your claim could be dismissed by a judge if you don’t file by this date (should you pursue it further).

It’s crucial to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible once discrimination has happened because of the procedural difficulties — and the implications of delay. The following are just a few advantages of seeking legal counsel early on:

You’ll remember the details better the earlier you begin;

It allows the attorney to negotiate an early settlement in a lawsuit before the employer has time to put together a more comprehensive defensive plan. Starting early offers discrimination lawyers the time to carefully evaluate the case, collect enough evidence, and make a compelling argument.

It’s crucial to contact a lawyer straight away if you think you’ve experienced workplace discrimination. Experienced wage and hour and discrimination lawyers know how to apply the law and will collaborate with a range of professionals to build your case.