On behalf of Law Offices of Mauro Fiore, Jr. posted in Employment Discrimination on Thursday, August 2, 2018.
Discrimination in the workplace is still present today even though there are laws in place to fight it in California. Discrimination against potential employees and employees for their sex, race, ethnicity, origin, age, disability, if you have children, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or any other physical feature is illegal. So, how can you spot discrimination in the workplace? The first place you should start to look for workplace discrimination is during the job interview. Employers are legally not allowed to ask you about your individual protected status during an interview. This includes anything about your disability, sexual orientation, marital status and more. Have you been retaliated against at work? This most often happens when you blow the whistle on an illegal practice by your employer. Being fired for being a whistleblower or receiving a demotion can be considered discrimination. When employers make assumptions about their employees' plans or their physical abilities and act on those assumptions, you could be the victim of workplace discrimination. For example, when a supervisor assumes that a pregnant worker won't be able to handle their job or won't return to work after giving birth. If you have recently been demoted or assigned new tasks that are beneath your skills, training, education, or certifications for no reason, while others without your high level of experience are promoted, you could be a victim of discrimination. Now that you know how you can spot discrimination in the workplace, you can keep your eyes open for these signs. If you are discriminated against or notice it happening to a co-worker, you need to report it to a supervisor as soon as possible.