What Are The Types of Discrimination That Happens in a Workplace?

Employment discrimination is discrimination in the workplace that involves the unequal, unfair, or prejudiced treatment of workers due to their personal characteristics, including age, race, gender, national origin, color, religion, or disability, among others. Many workers face all kinds of discrimination in the workplace every single day. According to the latest data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), workers filed 73,458 employment discrimination complaints in 2022. 

While state and federal laws are in place to help safeguard workers from workplace discrimination, unfair and unequal treatment still occurs regularly. Knowing the various kinds of discrimination, you can experience in the workplace will help you determine the best way to handle the situation when it happens to you.

Retaliation

This is the most commonly reported discrimination complaint the EEOC receives yearly. The EEOC received 51.6% retaliation complaints in 2022. Examples of retaliation can include:

• Reprimanding, harassing, or threatening workers who oppose discriminatory practices
• Denying workers benefits, promotions, or other employment conditions for opposing unfair employment tactics
• Demoting or terminating employees who have filed complaints against their employers

Disability Discrimination

34% of complaints filed with the EEOC in 2022 involved disability discrimination. This involves biased or unfair treatment of physically or mentally disabled workers. Disability discrimination can be obvious, like refusing to hire workers with chronic conditions, or more subtle, like specific job requirements that certain disabled people cannot possibly meet. Additionally, it can involve victimization, harassment, and failure to provide reasonable accommodations.

Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Color, or National Origin

Discrimination can also be based on a worker’s race, sex, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender expression, or gender identity. Examples typically include:

• Mistreating or harassing workers due to the color of their skin
• Not hiring workers of a certain age or race
• Treating workers differently because of their gender, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or gender expression

Sexual Harassment

This involves unwanted or unsolicited sexual advances. It can create a hostile working environment for the victims and make it uncomfortable or difficult for them to do their jobs. There’s also quid pro quo sexual harassment, which involves bosses or top-level employees offering pay raises, promotions, or other employment rewards, in exchange for dates or sexual favors.

Age Discrimination

Also called ageism, this involves unfair treatment of workers due to their age. Common examples include not hiring, getting terminated, not getting certain positions or work duties, not getting training opportunities, or being denied promotions due to a worker’s age.

Religious Discrimination

Common examples include segregating workers from other workers, harassing workers creating a hostile working environment, not giving reasonable accommodations, and mocking a worker’s religious beliefs or practices because of their religion.

Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy discrimination involves terminating or not hiring pregnant workers. It can also involve denying pregnant people assignments, benefits, training, lactation breaks, or other employment conditions and rights afforded to other workers.

It’s also crucial to note that workers can be discriminated against due to their genetic information, veteran or military status, or marital status.

Speak to a California Employment Discrimination Attorney Today

If you experience employment discrimination, check your company policy for addressing and reporting complaints. But some workplace discrimination practices are more subtle and harder to prove. To better understand employment discrimination, your legal rights, and the remedies available to you, contact the California employment discrimination attorney at Bamieh & De Smeth today.

Call 805-643-5555 or reach us online to schedule your free consultation with our California employment discrimination attorney.