If You Were Mistreated By Your Employer, Call John W. Dalton Today At 866-471-7810 For A Free Case Evaluation!
Workplace discrimination is illegal in California and across the United States.
If an employer treats you differently or poorly because of certain personal characteristics or your personal life, you have the right to complain.
You also have a right to recover financial losses that result from an employer’s discriminatory acts.
Your personal characteristics should not keep you from making a living.
Recovering what you lose from a boss’s wrongful actions is most easily achieved with the help of a good workplace discrimination attorney.
Over the past three decades, the Law Office of John Dalton has passionately championed the rights of wronged employees and has won tens of millions of dollars for them.
What Is Discrimination in the Workplace?
In general, workplace discrimination occurs when an employer denies an employee a benefit or treats them differently or poorly based on their membership in a protected class.
Protected Classes
Under California law, an employer can’t treat an employee or potential employee differently because of their:
- Religion,
- Gender,
- Sex,
- Race,
- Marital status,
- Medical condition,
- Disability,
- Age,
- Color,
- Military status,
- Veteran status,
- Sexual orientation,
- Gender expression or identity
- Ancestry, or
- Genetic information.
Federal law prohibits job discrimination based on membership in many of the same protected classes, but California’s law tends to be more protective of more employees.
Many of your rights against job discrimination come from Title VII of the United State Civil Rights Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. However, some employees have additional protections under other laws.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 also protects against gender discrimination in the workplace. And the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects workers over 40 against age discrimination in the workplace.
Discriminatory Acts
Job discrimination can occur in so many ways. Some forms of discrimination are more subtle than others, but all forms can be incredibly harmful.
If an employer has taken the following actions against you based on your membership in a protected class, they’ve likely committed unlawful discrimination:
- Job termination,
- Job refusal,
- Denial of benefits,
- Unequal pay,
- Harassment,
- Disciplinary action,
- Unwanted job transfer,
- Denial of a promotion,
- Denial of training or other job opportunities,
- Denial of a desired job transfer, or
- Unequal working conditions.
Anti-discrimination laws apply to employers and potential employers, so you have legal rights against those who mistreat you during the application and interview process as well.
Filing a Discrimination Complaint
If you suffer discrimination at work or in the application process, you have three years to file a complaint in California. You can file your complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
If you choose to file a federal complaint, you have 180 days to do so, and you file it with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
If your discrimination complaint is successful, remedies you can receive include:
- Back pay,
- Job benefits,
- Compensatory damages,
- Punitive damages,
- Job reinstatement, and
- Job promotion.
Sometimes you can settle your complaint early, but you might have to participate in a hearing if your employer is stubborn.
Proving a Discrimination Complaint
The moment you begin to suspect discrimination in your workplace, start collecting evidence you can legally retain.
Without solid evidence, you won’t be able to prove your claim. So it is best to compile evidence as soon as you suspect that you might be the victim of discrimination.
This evidence can include:
- Workplace emails and other correspondence,
- Performance reviews,
- Disciplinary reports,
- Employment manuals,
- Employment contracts,
- Personal notes,
- Paystubs, and
- Names of witnesses.
If you are the victim of harassment, it is important to file a human resources complaint if you can.
Showing the court that you made efforts to resolve harassment issues through your employer to no avail can bode well for you at a hearing.
In some cases, an employer makes it very clear that they are treating you differently because of your personal characteristics. But more often than not, the discriminatory practices will be a lot more subtle.
So if you don’t have “smoking gun” evidence of discrimination, don’t despair. Circumstantial evidence of discrimination can be just as compelling.
If you notice that your employer treats you differently from similarly situated employees who don’t share your personal characteristics, you could have a strong discrimination case.
You don’t have to figure this out on your own. A skilled workplace discrimination attorney can determine whether you have a valid job discrimination case.
We Are Here to Fight for Workers
The Law Office of John Dalton is a passionate legal advocate for the mistreated worker. John Dalton cannot stand a bully, and he has won some of the largest workplace discrimination verdicts in the state of California.
John prides himself on developing the trust and confidence of his clients.
If you need a Palm Springs Workplace Discrimination Lawyer, talk to us. You can call us or contact us online.
Our experienced lawyer also handles other types of employment cases including: