818.501.4343August 9, 2024
As an employer, you must proactively safeguard your business from anything that might disrupt productivity and chemistry within the workplace. One of the biggest threats to your company’s reputation and employee morale is workplace discrimination. Before you can effectively insulate your company against the dangers of prejudice, you must first familiarize yourself with the various types of discrimination.
Take a look at the nine main types of discrimination, and learn how a workplace discrimination lawyer may be able to help protect your company.
Race and Color
Race and color discrimination involves treating someone unfavorably because of the color of their skin or their race. These types of discriminatory acts can occur anytime during a person’s professional interaction with your business. Any bias in hiring, promotion, job assignments, and termination can open your business up to liability.
Less blatant forms of discrimination, like racially charged jokes or comments, can create a hostile work environment. It’s vital to create a space where people of all backgrounds feel welcome, included, and respected.
Sex and Gender
Sex and gender discrimination includes unfair treatment based on someone’s:
- Sex
- Gender identity
- Sexual orientation
Unequal pay for equal work, biased treatment, and sexual harassment are a few of the most common forms of sex and gender-based discrimination. You must create policies that prevent such acts and provide training to ensure a respectful workplace.
These types of issues have been at the forefront of public conversation in recent years. There have also been significant strides to protect marginalized groups from sex and gender identity discrimination. For example, in April 2024, the Biden administration expanded Title IX to strengthen protections against gender and sex discrimination.
Age
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects older individuals from unfavorable treatment because of their age. The ADEA applies to individuals over the age of 40 and covers a wide range of mistreatment, including:
- Exclusion from important projects
- Being passed over for promotions
- Being targeted for layoffs
It’s important to treat aging workers with respect and empathy, even if they are becoming less proficient at certain tasks or are having trouble keeping up with technological changes. Do your best to support all members of your team, especially those who have been loyal to your company for decades.
Disability
The Americans With Disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities unless doing so would cause undue hardship. If any of your employees suffer from disabilities, you must make reasonable efforts to support them in their daily work.
Disability discrimination occurs when workers are treated unfairly because of physical or mental impairments. Denying disabled persons the reasonable accommodations necessary for performing their jobs also constitutes a form of discrimination.
ADA fines can reach up to $75,000 for the first offense and up to $150,000 for additional violations. Discriminatory acts directed toward disabled persons can also open your business up to lawsuits.
Religion
Religious discrimination involves treating employees unfavorably because of their religious beliefs or practices. You must accommodate employees’ religious practices, such as allowing flexible scheduling for religious observances, unless making such accommodations would cause undue hardship on the business.
This category of discrimination can be challenging to navigate due to the wide diversity of beliefs and practices in society. If you have a concern about the legitimacy of a request for religious accommodation, it’s best to consult with a workplace discrimination lawyer. A skilled attorney can help you better understand your obligations as an employer as well as any limitations regarding what accommodations you have to make.
National Origin
As an employer, you must ensure that your hiring, promotion, and other employment decisions are based on qualifications and performance, not an employee’s national origin. Discrimination based on national origin involves treating someone unfairly because of their accent, ethnicity, or nationality.
It’s vital to guard against indirect forms of national origin discrimination. For example, certain applicant tracking systems (ATS) use automation tools and algorithms to vet candidates. You must verify that your ATS solution does not filter out a disproportionate number of candidates based on protected class data, including their nation of origin.
Pregnancy
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. It prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of pregnancy and childbirth. Any related medical conditions are also covered under the act.
You must treat pregnant employees the same as other employees with temporary disabilities. This means providing reasonable accommodations and ensuring their job is protected during maternity leave.
Retaliation
Retaliation occurs when an employer mistreats an employee for participating in legally protected activities, such as filing a discrimination complaint or participating in an investigation. For example, suppose that a longtime manager files an age discrimination complaint after being passed up for a promotion. If you demote them, it would be considered a form of retaliation.
Harassment, termination, or formally penalizing a person for engaging in legally protected activities are other forms of retaliation. If you have to take negative action against someone who has filed a complaint against your business, ensure that you have thorough documentation to support your actions.
Military Status
You cannot discriminate against employees on the basis of military status. For example, you cannot pass someone up for promotion because they have deployed in the past and will likely be deployed in the future as part of their military service.
You are also required to re-employ someone who leaves for specified time periods as part of employment or training. Failing to re-employ a military service member or otherwise mistreating them based on their enlisted status would constitute this type of discrimination.
How a Workplace Discrimination Lawyer Can Help
A workplace discrimination lawyer has experience defending businesses against current or former employees. Workplace discrimination lawyers have a comprehensive understanding of bias, prejudice, and other negative predispositions or retaliatory acts that could expose your business to civil liability.
If your business encounters allegations of any form of discrimination, connect with a workplace discrimination lawyer at Pearlman, Brown, & Wax, LLP immediately. Doing so could salvage your reputation and protect your business from unscrupulous or unjust lawsuits.