Protecting Your Rights at Work

Employment discrimination and wrongful termination claims can be difficult to prove because the employee must establish that the reason for an adverse employment decision, such as being fired, not hired, not promoted, or harassed in the workplace was that the employee was a member of what the law regards as a protected class or due to a violation of public policy. Protected classes include: gender, race, national origin, age, religion, disability, and might include sexual orientation, depending on where the discrimination took place. When an employer makes a choice or a decision that affects an employee using any of these factors, discrimination might occur. To determine the legality of these decisions it is important to seek the counsel of attorneys such as Berlinger & Small who are experienced in employment law and discrimination in the the workplace.

Examples of potentially unlawful workplace discrimination situations that employees might face include:

Hiring/Firing/Promotions: You apply for a job for which you have experience and excellent qualifications, but you are not hired because the employer or a customer of your employer wants to deal with employees of a different race, religion, or gender. You are told that you are laid off due to company cutbacks and reorganization, but others in the same job and with less seniority than you keep their jobs. You have worked for your company for several years, receiving exemplary reviews and awards, yet every time you apply for a promotion the position is filled by a less qualified employee.

Pay: Equal pay for equal work. You start at the same time as another associate of a different gender. You both receive exemplary performance reviews, however, the other employee gets a larger raise, perhaps because he or she has a “special” relationship with the boss.

Benefits: Your company’s health insurance policy does not cover your male spouse, because it is assumed he will have his own benefits, while the wives of your male coworkers are covered. Because your husband is not covered you have to make a higher contribution towards his health benefits than your male coworkers pay for their wives.

If any of these things have happened to you on the job, or you believe you were treated differently from other employees because you are in one of the protected classes you might have suffered discrimination.

If you believe that you are a victim of workplace discrimination, please call us at (215) 366-2405