Discrimination in the workplace can take on many forms. Some are easy to recognize, but others may not be immediately noticeable. Employment protection laws were created during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s to protect employees from workplace discrimination. Employees have the right to work in a safe, harassment-free environment that is free of discrimination.
Employers do not have the right to not hire a potential employee based on his or her race, national origin, gender or religion. Employees may not also be disciplined, fired, denied training, demoted, denied a promotion, paid less or harassed based on their race, origin, gender or religious views. This is covered in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, under Title VII.
The act does not only protect women and minorities, but also includes whites and males who may be subject to “reverse discrimination,” often encouraged by the philosophies of affirmative action. In addition, other acts have been created to further protect employees.
The Age Discrimination Act was created to protect workers 40 years or older from age discrimination. The Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act protects disabled workers from discrimination.
Many states and local counties and municipalities have created additional anti-discrimination laws in an effort to further protect employees not covered in previous acts. This may include the LGBT community as well as married or unmarried employees and pregnant employees.
Mitchell Pollack & Associates, PLLC, have been working for over twenty years protecting the rights of employees from employment discrimination in the workplace. We also work with businesses protecting their interests from litigations. We have offices in Tarrytown, New York, as well as Mahwah, New Jersey, to serve our clients. Our firm is knowledgeable about the wide variety of workplace discrimination cases, and our website could help inform employees about their legal rights and options regarding employment discrimination.
