Federal Laws Protect Workers from Unfair Treatment

At Artz, Dewhirst & Wheeler, LLP, in Ohio, we believe in every worker’s right to fair treatment in the workplace, and we often stand up for clients against employers in court to fight for those rights.

Traditionally, employers have been known to discriminate certain categories of people, so much so that federal lawmakers have written laws to protect those workers. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the unfair treatment from your employer may be illegal discrimination if it is based on certain characteristics:

• Race, national origin or color
• Sex, including pregnancy (or ability to become pregnant), sexual orientation or gender identity
• Disability or genetic information
• Religion
• Age (if you are 40 or older)

Perhaps your employer is not openly discriminating, but the company policies make it difficult for a person in one of the above protected classes to be hired or promoted within the company.

For example, a policy stating that no employee wear any type of hat or head covering may be discriminating against people in certain religions that require them, unless the company created the policy to protect workers from a particular hazard. Or, an employer may have a hiring practice of asking potential employees when they graduated from college. Unless this has a direct bearing on whether the person has the qualifications necessary to do the job, it could be an indication of age discrimination.

Federal law provides protection for you if you see that your employer is discriminating based on a protected class, and you file a complaint. More information about employee rights in the workplace is available on our webpage.