Employment Discrimination & Sexual Harassment

IMPORTANT: EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION CASES HAVE VERY SHORT TIME LIMITS. USUALLY, SUCH A CLAIM MUST BE FILED IN 180 DAYS OR 300 DAYS AFTER THE LAST ACT OF DISCRIMINATION. IF YOU FAIL TO FILE A CLAIM RELATING TO THE ACT OF DISCRIMINATION WITHIN THE APPROPRIATE TIME PERIOD, YOU MAY LOSE YOUR RIGHT TO SUE FOREVER.

Employment Discrimination Law and Employment Law in general are very complex areas of the law. Employment Law itself usually involves discrimination including race discrimination, sex discrimination, religious discrimination, age discrimination, and disability discrimination as well as retaliation for complaining about discrimination. Sexual Harassment is also a kind of employment law. It also includes such things as Family & Medical Leave Act also known as the FMLA, Overtime Claims, and Unpaid Wages and the Equal Pay Act which requires that men and women be paid the same amount of money for the same work done under the same conditions. If your legal problem relates to one of these areas, you need to consult an employment lawyer. The Law Offices of Vonde M. Smith, PC handles all of these kinds of claims.

EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION
We work with clients who have been subject to illegal discrimination. Employment discrimination happens every day. Illegal discrimination occurs when a person is subject to different treatment than other employees, at least in part, because of race, color, creed, sex, age, place of national origin, or condition of disability or pregnancy. If you believe you have been the subject of discrimination, please contact the Law Offices of Vonde M. Smith to see if we can help.

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION
The Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted to protect individuals with disabilities from illegal discrimination.  In order to sue under the ADA, one must be able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation. While there are some limitations to the efforts of providing reasonable accommodations, employers are required to provide access to facilities and perhaps restructure the job itself. However, employers do not have to make reasonable accommodations if doing so would impose an undue hardship or significant expense when considered in relation to factors such as size, financial resources, and the nature and structure of the business. 

SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Sexual harassment is a form of employment discrimination. Sexual harassment is any kind of sexual behavior that is unwelcome and/or inappropriate for the work place and is based on sex. Sexual harassment can be verbal harassment (bad comments or dirty jokes), visual harassment (sexual or embarrassing posters, cartoons, drawing, etc.), physical harassment, and sexual favors (sexual advances, confrontation with sexual demands.) In the work place, sexual harassment can come from the owner, supervisor, manager, lead person, foreperson, co-worker and/or customer. It does not need to have sexual content to be based on sex.

RACE & SEX DISCRIMINATION
Race and sex discrimination may be characterized as either discrimination or harassment.  If an employer refuses to hire or fires someone simply because he is male or she is female or because of their color, this is discrimination.  A few, very rare, exceptions exist, known as Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications where discrimination is legal.  These are situations where being male or being white or in the religious context, being of a particular religion is necessary to do the job.  For example, a Catholic church can refuse to hire a non-catholic as a religious leader.  Harassment claims are a form of discrimination, but they differ in that they relate to the specific treatment a person receives.

HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT
A hostile work environment is a work environment which is permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult, which is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the worker’s conditions of employment and create an abusive working relationship.  Factors that the courts use to determine whether or not the environment is sufficiently hostile to justify bringing a lawsuit include the following kinds of things:

• The frequency of the conduct,
• The severity of the conduct,
• Whether the conduct is physical or verbal,
• Whether it unreasonably interferes with a worker's performance, and
• The effect of the conduct on its victims.

Only workers who are in an objectively hostile environment based on their race, color, creed, sex, place of national origin, age, or condition of disability, can bring a civil rights complaint. Workers who are being mistreated for other reasons, whether fair or unfair, do not have the option of bringing a lawsuit.

RETALIATION
An employer may not retaliate against an employee for bringing to light discrimination or sexual harassment, for contacting an attorney for help, or even filing a claim. If you report discrimination or sexual harassment and an employer fires you, you may have a claim for retaliation. This is an independent claim.

Please contact us with any questions or if you would like to explore your legal rights.