Essential Federal and California Laws Prohibiting Discrimination in the Workplace

Article Written By: georgefuller

When talking about the word discrimination, generally it is meant as a different treatment over something from another. For example, a person chooses an apple free of blemishes over another apple that has a few spots on it. The word itself has been used over time, wherein people have treated other people based on certain aspects. Discrimination is treating other people from another in a justifiable way.

Since the dawn of the 20th century, discrimination has been deemed illegal in all aspects. While the laws have been enacted to prohibit it, many people would intentionally or unintentionally exercise such an act in many different ways. One of the growing problems is within the workplace. Employment discrimination usually involves an employer doing any employment-related activity on the basis of race, gender, nationality, and disability.

California has been governed by the federal and state laws that prevent employers to use the basis of race, gender and other protective characteristics on terminating their employees. Since the state is an at-will employment state, there have been a lot of exceptions to their ability to fire employees because of these federal and state anti-discrimination laws. Here are some of them:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

Title VII of the 1964 act prevents employers from discriminating against applicants and employee on the basis of protective characteristics”. Employers must not discriminate against them in all aspects of employment, from hiring to termination. It is in effect if the private employers have at least 15 employees and if the workplace is a state or federal government office and other agencies.

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act

This law prohibits employers to discriminate against an applicant or an employee based on an individual s age of 40 years old.

• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA Amendments of 2008)

This law prohibits employers to discriminate against an applicant or an employee based on their physical or mental disability. The law also protects individuals who have been diagnosed with a disability and has since recuperated, and those who are thought to be wrongly perceived as persons with disability.

These and all other laws apply in all fifty states in the US. Moreover, California prohibits discrimination not only on the known basis previously stated, but also concern marital status, gender preference and identity, having AIDS or HIV, or any medical condition, and being part of political activities or affiliations. An employer who was found to have discriminated against an employee or an applicant can file for a claim and hire a Los Angeles discrimination attorney.

About the Author

Jon - Los Angeles discrimination attorney and California wrongful termination lawyer

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