Defenses Used by Employers when Facing a Discrimination Complaint/Case

Employment discrimination often occurs in the workplace, as seen in the number of complaints that are filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In fact, statistics show that the agency received about 99,922 complaints in the Fiscal Year of 2010 alone.

As an employer, you might face a discrimination complaint or case if you made an employment decision that was based on an individual’s religion, age, disability, national origin, race, or gender. In addition, you may also be accused of tolerating this unlawful act if you failed to take necessary steps in order to protect your employees from it.

However, not all employers charged with discrimination are found guilty of it.

If you are facing a discrimination complaint or case, you can defend your rights with the assistance of a Los Angeles discrimination attorney. He will help you prove your innocence using these three types of defenses.

·         The complainant is not included in a protected class- Under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are prohibited from performing discriminatory practices against an individual who is a member or is included in a protected class.

However, the protection provided by Title VII as well as other anti-discrimination laws like Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and Equal Pay Act (EPA) does not cover all types of discrimination in the workplace.

For example, an employer may not be considered guilty of discrimination if it was based on an employee’s weight. It means employees who suffered from discrimination may not have a successful complaint if the act was based on characteristics that are not covered by anti-discrimination laws.

·         Bona fide occupational qualification- An employer may be allowed to impose policies or qualification which may be discriminatory in nature, if they are needed for the job. For example, a dress designed only hires female models to wear her products. The designer may be considered innocent because her products are made for women and possible clients will only notice the quality of such products if they are worn by female models.

·         Number of employees- An employer may escape from liability if he only has few employees. For example, he may not be accused of violating Title VII or ADA if he only has 10 employees. Although he committed the unlawful act, he may not held liable for it because the two mentioned laws only cover employers who have at least 15 employees.

For more information about employment discrimination, you can call a Los Angeles employment attorney from the Mesriani Law Group at (310) 826-6300.