Fight Back Against Workplace Discrimination

Many would like to think that discrimination is the relic of an earlier time, but it remains a pervasive problem in workplaces throughout the United States. If you’ve been a victim of employment discrimination in Southern California, the Law Offices of Matthew G. English can help you pursue all available remedies in civil court.

Protections Under State And Federal Law

There are numerous laws that protect workers against discrimination based on “protected status.” The two biggest are the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Under either or both of these laws, it is illegal to discriminate against someone based on:

• Race or color
• National origin or ancestry
• Religious creed
• Disability (either physical or mental)
• Genetic information
• A medical condition (such as cancer or AIDS)
• Sex/gender (including pregnancy)
• Sexual orientation or gender identity/expression
• Military status or military veteran status
• Marital status
• Age (if 40 or older)

Under disability discrimination, an adverse action can also include your employer’s failure to provide a reasonable accommodation to allow you to perform core functions of your job with a disability. If you are eligible for and take job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, it is also illegal for your employer to fire you so long as your leave abides by the terms of the law.

Filing And Proving Your Discrimination Claim

A discrimination claim must include two elements. First, you must have suffered an adverse employment action (firing, demotion, refusal to hire, etc.). Second, you must show that the adverse action was taken based on a protected status.

Proving discrimination is not always easy, because most employers are smart enough to come up with acceptable excuses to justify the adverse action. Because of this, you may need to keep records over time of discriminatory language, conversations and actions that occurred to you and other employees who share a protected status (being women or African American, for instance).

You don’t need to have all your evidence in hand before contacting an attorney. In fact, if you wait too long, you risk letting the statutes of limitation expire on your claim. The smartest move is to contact my firm, and we can discuss how to gather any additional evidence we need to bring a claim.

Get Started With A Free Consultation

I am pleased to offer free initial consultations to prospective clients in the San Diego area. To schedule yours, you can fill out my online contact form or call 619-826-8236.