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Civil Rights
Everyone has come to the consensus that discrimination on the job is not acceptable in the modern business environment. Nevertheless, many people aren't familiar with legislation in place to protect employees against intolerance. If an employer breaks the discrimination code of conduct, knowingly or unknowingly, it runs the risk of running into severe legal and financial problems, negative publicity, and employee distrust among other consequences.
Discrimination occurs when an employee falls victim to hostile or unjust treatment based on their sex, race, religious beliefs, country of origin, disability, veteran status, or other traits protected by law. Employees who are retaliated against for speaking out about workplace discrimination or other violations could also be included on this list. Federal law mandates that discrimination be outlawed in areas associated with work such as recruitment, hiring, progress reports, promotional terms, training, compensation, and punitive action.
An interesting aspect of this definition is that the presence of unfair treatment is not necessarily the same as unlawful discrimination. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws are only being abused when employer bias occurs as a direct result of one of the previously mentioned employee characteristics—not because of something like poor job performance or clashing personalities. However, discrimination claims are based on circumstance, so they can be highly subjective.
Avoiding accusations of discrimination does not mean you need to show favoritism to any one employee. EEO laws simply ask that employers do not show preferential treatment, enforce the same policies, and offer the same opportunity for advancement, etc. to all employees.
EEO law states that that any employee who undergoes discrimination can seek compensation including
- Back Pay
- Reinstatement of their former position (assuming they had been demoted or moved to a less desirable one)
- Court order to end the discriminatory behavior
- Stock compensation
- Payment for damages caused by pain and suffering
Employers found guilty of discrimination are liable for up to $300,000 in penalties. If an employer does not have an established equal employment policy, by law, corrective measures may be necessary to grant members of traditionally persecuted groups access to opportunities that had always been available to other employees.
As with most other claims, the federal government imposes a statute of limitations on job discrimination claims; employees are almost always required to file a complaint no more than 180 days after the event allegedly took place. If an employee waits too long, taking legal action is most likely out of the question. Sexual discrimination lawsuits should be filed less than 90 days after receiving a "right to sue" letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This document verifies their right to file the claim.