Discrimination at work

Employment discrimination means your employer treated you unfairly because of your legally protected status or characteristic in violation of a federal, state, or local law. 

A protected class is a group of people with a specific characteristic, like age, sex, or gender (including pregnancy, gender identity or sexual orientation), race, religion, veteran status, disability, and so on. People who have a protected status can’t be targeted for discrimination because of that characteristic. The laws that protect against discrimination contain lists of protected classes. 

Learn about your rights and responsibilities if you recently lost your job and / or if you think you may be owed wages. There are state laws that provide other worker protections that could be helpful to know about. 

To be considered illegal employment discrimination that you can make a claim against your employer for, the unfair treatment must: 

• Be based on a protected status or 
• Have a disproportionate negative impact on one of the protected groups

If you work for a tribal nation, tribal business or organization, tribal casino, or on a reservation, you might not be able to use the state agency complaint process or file in state court. You might have to use the complaint process that is specific to the nation you work for. Learn about civil rights and employment rights in Indian Country.

Some different treatment of employees may not qualify as illegal discrimination if it is related to and necessary for a particular job. For example, an employer operating a warehouse may require workers to be able to repeatedly lift 40-pound boxes onto a loading dock. While some people with disabilities may not be able to lift 40-pound boxes, the employer may require “ability to lift 40-pound boxes” in a job posting. The employer may not say “no people with disabilities may apply” in the job posting. 

Federal, state, and local discrimination laws may have overlapping protections, but some state and local laws have different or additional protected classes. The laws also have different deadlines for when to file a complaint with an agency or a lawsuit. It can be confusing to know which laws and deadlines apply in your unique situation. Try to talk to a lawyer right away if you think you may have experienced employment discrimination.

What if I was sexually harassed at work?

Sexual harassment at work is a specific kind of mistreatment that can have legal consequences for your employer. Not all sexual harassment is discrimination but some treatment can be both sexual harassment and employment discrimination. It can be complicated to figure out if what you experienced would be considered legal sexual harassment. Learn more about what legally qualifies as sexual harassment and how to make complaints about it.