What Is Job Discrimination?

“Job Discrimination” occurs when an employee suffers an “adverse employment action”, due to his/her membership in a “protected class”.   An “adverse employment action” is any negative action related to the “terms and conditions of employment”, which can really be almost any aspect of the employee’s job, including position, pay, title, hours, vacations, work environment.  “Protected classes” mean specific types of personal status that are protected under the law.  

Note that discrimination is illegal only when that discrimination is based on a “protected class”.  For example, there is no law that protects people on the basis of the length of their hair.  Therefore, if an employer wants to fire an employee for having hair that is too long, this is perfectly legal.

 
Age:  Discriminating on the basis of age in the workplace is illegal under both the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.  However, only people over forty are protected.  An may employer can refuse to hire somebody who is “too young”, but not because he or she is "too old".

Another federal law, the Older Worker's Benefit Protection Act, requires employers to provide equal benefits for both older and younger workers. An employer can accomplish this by either providing packages that are equal in benefit or by spending the same amount of money on each person.

Disability:  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of a disability. However, for the employee to be protected, he or she must be a "qualified individual with a disability." These means two things:  (1) he or she must be able to do the job, and (2) he or she must have a “disability”.  A “disability” means some sort of medical condition which substantially limits “one or more major life activities."

The ADA also requires employers to make “reasonable accommodations” for disabled employees upon request.  A "reasonable accommodation" is when the employer takes measures to ensure that the person can do the job.  For example, an employee with a visual impairment is required, as part of his or her job, to review data on a computer screen.  Because of the visual impairment, the employee cannot see the words on the screen.  However, a $99 software program is available that will read the words on the screen aloud to the employee, allowing the employee to effectively perform the job.  Because the cost is minimal, the employer would likely be required to provide this software as a “reasonable accommodation”. 

Race:  It is also illegal to discriminate on the basis of a person's race or color.  Race is generally defined as a person's ancestry or ethnic characteristics. Everyone is some race or color. Note that the law protects all races, not just minorities.  It is also illegal to discriminate on the basis of "color". For example, favoring “light skinned” African Americans over “dark skinned” African Americans is also illegal. 

It is even illegal to discriminate due to someone’s “association” with a particular race.  For example, a Caucasian man is married to an African American woman.  The man’s employer is not prejudiced against Caucasians, but opposes mixed-race relationships, and fires the man when he finds out about the man’s African American wife.   This, too, would be illegal. 

National Origin:  Two separate laws, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act, prohibit discrimination because of national origin.  For example, a policy of hiring “U.S. Citizens only” is usually illegal (though there are some exceptions).  Generally, an employer also cannot discriminate against an individual because of an accent (unless the accent would materially interfere with job performance).

Religion:  Discrimination on the basis of a person's religious beliefs or practices is also illegal.  Employers must make reasonable accommodations of a person's religious beliefs or practices in the workplace, unless doing so would create an “undue hardship”. 

Pregnancy:  Discrimination based on pregnancy is illegal.  This includes discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.   Additionally, if a pregnant woman’s doctor recommends less strenuous work, and the employer has such a position available, the employer usually must transfer her to that position.

Gender:  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of a person's gender.  Note that the law protects both males and females.  A policy which discriminates against men is equally illegal as one that discriminates against women.

How Do I Go About Proving Discrimination?

To prove workplace discrimination, an employee has to show that he or she is a member of a "protected class", and has suffered an "adverse employment action".  The employer must then demonstrate that there was a legitimate reason for the adverse employment action.  If the employer can do so, the employee is given an opportunity to show that the employer's reason for the firing was not the real reason (that is that the reason the employer offered is just “pretext").

Statistics can be very useful in proving discrimination.  For example, if an employee can show statistical evidence that his employer promotes Caucasians more frequently than African Americans, this can be strong evidence of racial discrimination.