{"id":355632,"date":"2016-04-04T10:41:57","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T15:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/civilrights\/discrimination\/employment-discrimination.html"},"modified":"2024-09-27T12:09:19","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T17:09:19","slug":"employment-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/civilrights\/discrimination\/employment-discrimination.html","title":{"rendered":"Employment Discrimination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Employment Discrimination<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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Employment discrimination occurs when an individual receives unequal treatment in an employment situation based on a trait unrelated to the performance of their job, such as race, gender, national origin, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. This section offers in-depth information on discrimination in the workplace, and the federal laws that prohibit it. It\u2019s important to learn about these laws so you can protect yourself and your career. Below you will find links to key federal laws and U.S. Supreme Court decisions on employment discrimination. You will also find information on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, which is the agency charged with enforcing employment discrimination laws.<\/p>\n

Federal Employment Discrimination Laws: Overview<\/h2>\n

There are a number of often-overlapping federal laws prohibiting various types of discrimination in the workplace. While many states offer additional workplace protections (for instance, some states have encoded LGBT workers as a protected class), all states are subject to federal laws. However, keep in mind that many of these laws have limits — many of them only protect workers who have been with the employer for a certain amount of time or who work in companies with a certain number of employees. Key federal anti-discrimination laws that apply to the workplace include the following:<\/p>\n