Unfortunately, many Americans face discrimination in the workplace every day. Thankfully, you’re legally protected and don’t have to tolerate discrimination in the workplace. Whenever you experience discrimination in the workplace, it’s time to contact your HR department or an attorney. The employment law attorneys at Weisberg Cummings, P.C. are here to ensure that you’re being treated fairly.
What Is Employment Discrimination?
Discrimination in the workplace is defined as any harassment or unfair treatment an employee may face due to their age, race, gender, sexuality, nationality or disability. Workplace discrimination also refers to cases where employers forbid, fire or take action against employees for disclosing or discussing their pay in the workplace. Whether workplace discrimination is intentional or unintentional makes no difference under the law.
According to the American Department of Labor, workplace discrimination may include:
- Disparate treatment: Employees and applicants who are treated differently than their co-workers due to their identity experience disparate treatment. Disparate treatment usually refers to discrimination that is intentional and systemic. Protection against disparate treatment extends to race, color, sex, sexuality, religion, gender identity, nationality, disability and veteran status. One example of disparate treatment is language testing for candidates with accents, while the other applicants are not tested.
- Disparate impact: Disparate impact refers to systemic policies and practices from employers that target specific identities and have a disparate impact on specific identifies. Disparate impacts are more likely to be unintentional but are no less serious than disparate treatment. Examples of disparate impact include lift testing for office jobs that do not require lifting as part of the job.
When it comes to either type of employment discrimination, you should document as much information about the discrimination as possible. Always record the date, the full name of the individuals and the location where the event occurred. Written logs of employment discrimination in journals are another excellent way to help build your case. If you’re privy to any communications or messages that suggest worker discrimination, keep them for the record.
Examples of Employment Discrimination
Employee discrimination can come in many forms. You may have a case for discrimination if you have experienced your employer or co-workers engaged in the following behavior in the workplace:
- Using racial slurs or making derogatory remarks about an employee’s identity.
- Promoting or not promoting certain employees based on their identities alone.
- Assigning all employees of a particular demographic to a certain department.
- Firing employees for discussing their salaries openly or asking for higher pay.
- Paying women less than men for the same position or amount of responsibility.
- Having fixed roles at a company, such as relegating female candidates to secretaries.
- Giving unwelcome sexual advances or asking for sexual favors in the workplace.
- Making fun of employees who speak with an accent or speak other languages.
- Failing to call back qualified candidates because they have an ethnic name.
- Providing inflexible scheduling or refusing time off due to religious holidays.
- Unfairly criticizing the work of minority groups in hopes of terminating them.
- Failing to provide minority employees with consistent work in hopes of them leaving.
- Consistently overloading employees with responsibilities in hopes of them leaving.
- Denying paid sick leave to female employees following childbirth.
- Failing to promote women to senior roles due to fear of them getting pregnant.
- Requiring tests that have no relevancy to the position but screen out particular applications, such as irrelevant lift requirements that disqualify disabled candidates.
It’s important to remember that there’s never just one face to employment discrimination. If you believe that discrimination may be occurring in your workplace, it’s time to contact HR or consider reaching out to a law firm.
Employment Discrimination Laws in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has had laws protecting workers from employer discrimination for more than half of a century. In addition to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, the state also follows all precedents for civil rights set at a national level. The following anti-discrimination laws are at the heart of worker protections in Pennsylvania:
- Pennsylvania Human Relations Act: The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, ancestry, religion, age or national origin in employment, public accommodations and housing. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act was passed in 1955 and goes beyond many other states’ anti-discrimination laws by protecting individuals who use support animals and have physical handicaps. All businesses with 4 employees or more in Pennsylvania are subject to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 set the stage for legal protection against all forms of discrimination in the workplace. With the implementation of Title VII, it became illegal for workplaces to discriminate against employees for race, color, sex and national origin. Title VII applies to all businesses and employers who have a staff of at least 15 employees. All aspects of Title VII apply during the hiring and recruitment phase as well.
- Equal Pay Act: The Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it mandatory for businesses to pay employees of all genders the same compensation for the same work. The Equal Pay Act uses several factors to determine whether pay is substantially equal, including effort, skill responsibility and working conditions.
- Americans With Disabilities Act: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) protects people with disabilities from being discriminated against in the workplace or hiring process. Overall, the ADA extends to recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, social activities, privileges and pay within the workplace. The ADA also states that employers must provide disabled employees and applicants with reasonable accommodations to assist them with doing their job. All businesses with 15 employees or more must follow the Americans With Disabilities Act.
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act was added as a component of the Civil Rights Act in 1978 to protect employees from being discriminated against while bearing children. This law applies to hiring pregnant women, providing maternity and pregnancy leave, working conditions and benefits. As long as a candidate or employee can perform the required duty of a job, employers cannot dismiss them due to pregnancy.
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act: The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects job seekers and employees above the age of 40. The Act applies to hiring, promoting, compensating and firing employees.
Get a Free Consultation
At Weisberg Cummings, we’re dedicated to giving our clients the most individualized attention of any discrimination lawyer in Pennsylvania. Our attorneys provide you with accessible options, whether that means meeting with you after hours, via videoconference or even in the hospital. Call us at 855-716-2367 or contact us online today for a free consultation on your case.
