Common Employment Discrimination Issues in California

Gender, age, and disability are the common discrimination issues in the workplace that affect many employees in California.

The federal Civil Rights Act and California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibit acts of discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, age, gender, religion, disability, or marital status. These laws promote equal employment opportunity for citizens in the hiring, retention, and promotion process. Failure to abide with such laws constitutes penalties.

Here are the common types of discrimination in the workplace:

1. Age discrimination. When employees reach 40, they often worry over the security of their job. This is because most employees are either offered early retirement or are dismissed from work. The motive is to replace older workers with younger ones to avoid paying seniority benefits and related health benefits. Other reasons include that younger ones are more updated on latest business trend with competitive agility.

However, firing a qualified and equally competitive senior employee on the basis of age is a form of discrimination and constitutes employer liability.

Sometimes employers use the severance pay or early retirement benefits to soften the blow of termination. Older employees can think twice before accepting such offer, a discrimination complaint can be filed at Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to correct such action and recover damages.

2. Gender discrimination- Women are mostly affected by gender discrimination in the workplace. Some employers refuse to grant leadership or top management positions to women applicant on the basis of gender. Women also suffer from stereotypical work duties and are denied of promotions.

Such situation is prohibited under Civil Rights Act and FEHA; the office of EEOC implements corrective measures to penalize violators.

3. Disability discrimination- Qualified applicants who apply for certain positions are denied of equal employment opportunity on the basis of perceived or actual disability. Employees who are qualified for promotion are denied on the basis of physical

or medical condition. EEOC regulates employers to consider qualified workers and provide reasonable accommodation to aid accomplishment of work duties.

Pregnant women or new mothers also suffer demotion or eventual termination on the basis of medical condition. Pregnancy is considered as a disability and employers must provide reasonable accommodation to help expectant and new mothers fulfill their work duties.

Under Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) employers must provide health and leave benefits to employees to help new parents care for their newborn or attend to medical care needs of family members.

Consult with Los Angeles employment lawyer to learn more on discrimination issues in the workplace. 

The Mesriani Law Group has a wide range of legal resources as we work with the best lawyers and litigators in each state across the United States. We offer a unique attorney directory where you can find a lawyer's location and area of practices. For more information contact Mesriani Law Group at 310-826-6300 or visit the main office at 12400 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 810 Los Angeles CA 90025.