Employment Discrimination
Employment Discrimination Laws
Landmark acts that
established Federal employment discrimination laws and regulations are
listed below.
Sexual harassment is
prohibited under the sex discrimination provision
of the Civil Rights Act. AIDS discrimination is prohibited under the Americans
with Disabilities Act (and Rehabilitation
Act).
Click the matching links in Federal
Discrimination Laws for more information.
Federal employment discrimination laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) mandate only the minimums to which employers
in all states must adhere.
Consequently, states and local jurisdictions are permitted to enact their
own employment discrimination laws that include or expand the minimum protections
afforded by the Federal laws.
For example, some states and municipalities prohibit discrimination based
on sexual orientation, smoking, body weight or unfavorable military discharge,
in addition to the prohibited discriminations under Federal law. Employee
rights are protected by whichever employment discrimination law—Federal,
state or municipal—affords the most protection.
Although their titles don't clearly indicate that they
serve as employment discrimination laws, certain other Federal and state
laws also prohibit it. For example, the Vietnam
Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act prohibits employment discrimination
against veterans who fought battles; whistleblower
laws and certain employment and labor laws have
provisions that prohibit it in the form of employer retaliation.
Employment discrimination laws are also called equal employment
opportunity laws, anti-discrimination laws and civil rights
laws. Some states and municipalities refer
to their employment discrimination laws as fair employment practices
(FEP) laws. State and municipal agencies that enforce such laws
go by various names.
For more information about discrimination laws, start by contacting the
nearest office of U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission or state equivalent, or consult
a lawyer. Your employer can't rightfully
retaliate against you for doing either.
But, whether you contact the EEOC or state equivalent, or consult a lawyer
first, don't delay if you reasonably believe that your employer has discriminated
against you. You have a limited amount of time take legal action, starting
on the date the alleged discrimination
took place. Such a time limit is called a statute
of limitations.
If the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 becomes
a new discrimination law, it will specifically prohibit prejudice against
gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers because of their sexual orientation.
On November 7, 2007, the House of Representatives passed H.R.3685,
the related, historic bill.
Six days later, the Senate added the bill to its legislative calendar
for a vote. Nineteen states already
have equivalents.
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