Discrimination

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Discrimination

California law, specifically Fair Employment and Housing Act, protects individuals from illegal discrimination by employers based on the following: race, color, ancestry, national origin; religion, creed; age (over 40); disability; mental and physical sex, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender expression, medical condition; genetic information; marital status; and military and veteran status. The most common type of discrimination is Disability Discrimination.

Disability Discrimination:

Fair Housing and Employment Act (FEHA) prohibits discrimination against individuals that have a “physical disability, mental disability, or medical condition.” In some cases, the FEHA prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee based on his or her association with a disability. An employer, for example, cannot discriminate against an employee who requires a medical leave of absence to donate a kidney.
Under both the ADA and FEHA “qualified individuals” with a disability are afforded protections under these laws. Simply put, the employee must actually be able to perform the essential duties of a job position. This is intended to prevent employees from filing suits of discrimination when they are unable to perform a job they physically cannot do.
Employers Must Provide Reasonable Accommodations!

In California, employers must provide “reasonable accommodation” for disabled workers to avoid any FEHA or ADA violations. When this accommodation is not provided, or is provided insufficiently, an employer could be in violation of the law. An employer may be required to change the workplace or policy. For example, an employer may need to provide time off from work for employees that may need it due to a disability. An employer may need to add a wheelchair ramp or provide a larger computer screen to employees who suffer from certain vision impairments. An employer may need to provide a chair to a disabled employee or provide an employee additional time to complete a task.

Age Discrimination:

An employee must be able to perform the “essential functions” of his/her job with the reasonable accommodations. Essentially, the employee must be able to perform the fundamental job duties of the employment position the individual with the disability holds. FEHA prohibits age discrimination in all areas of employment for workers over the age of 40 in the state of California and extends coverage to employers with five or more full-time or part-time workers. The Age Discrimination Act (ADEA) prohibits age discrimination at the federal level and applies to companies with more than 15 employees.

How to prove Age Discrimination:

Direct evidence of age discrimination includes, but is not limited to, derogatory and/or negative comments relating to an employee’s age is an example of direct evidence of age discrimination.

Indirect evidence of age discrimination, includes but is not limited to, offering evidence that the employee was replaced by someone significantly younger or that significantly younger employees in similar positions were treated more favorably.

The use of salary as the basis for differentiating between employees when terminating employment may be found to constitute age discrimination “if use of that criterion adversely impacts older workers as a group.”

Race/Ethnic/National Origin Discrimination:

Racial, ethnic and national origin discrimination refers to treating someone differently because of where they were born, the way they look, or because of their heritage. Race, ethnicity, and national origin discrimination, often overlap, and can carry different means to different people

Race generally refers to an individual’s physical characteristic, such as a skin color, hair color, and facial features. Examples include referring to people as black, white, red or yellow.
Ethnicity generally refers to an individual’s cultural characteristics.
National origin generally refers to the individual’s birthplace or the birthplace of their ancestor. It also refers to physical, cultural, or linguistic characteristics associated with a national origin group; marriage to or association with a national origin group; and/or tribal affiliation.

Impermissible Race/Ethnic/National Origin Discrimination:

Examples of impermissible race/ethnic/national origin discrimination, include:

Employer rules requiring employees to speak English at all times while on the job may constitute discrimination based on national origin.
Employer rules preferring one ethnic group over another.
Providing preferential treatment to one ethnic group over another.
Using derogatory and/or negative language about an employee’s race, ethnicity or national origin.
Racism in employment is illegal even if the person is wrong about the victim’s race

It is also illegal to harass an employee because of their race, ethnicity, and national origin.