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Discrimination is unfair treatment of a person due to their protected characteristics. California law recognizes many common targets for discrimination. These target groups are known as protected characteristics. You can not be turned away from work, denied housing, or otherwise discriminated against at work or in housing due to these protected characteristics.<\/p>\n

What race you are, your family ancestry, and where you came from are all are protected characteristics. Your medical state is also protected. You can’t be discriminated against due to having any form of disability, your current medical condition, your medical past, or your risk of having an inherited illness. No employer can force genetic testing on their employees. Other protected characteristics include what religion you practice, if you are married, your physical sex and your sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

One less obvious form of discrimination is language discrimination. As long as you are proficient enough at English to do your job, employers can’t hold things like your accent or having English as a second language against you. Employers also can’t demand that everyone speak English at work unless required for business reasons. If there are language restrictions the employer must be fair about them. The employer must make it clear when other languages can be spoken and what penalties are present for speaking other languages at the wrong time. The restrictions should only cover business times, not when you are on break.<\/p>\n

Have you been given you trouble for having one of these protected characteristics? If so, you should file for discrimination.<\/p>\n

Federal law states that once discrimination has occurred you have no more than 300 days to file a claim. Do not wait too long as filing a claim can take time. If the claim is filled out but not through the system in time, then the claim may be rejected. You will not be able to file a lawsuit for a rejected claim.<\/p>\n

If your job has at least 5 but less than 15 employees you will need to file with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (or DFEH for short). To file with the DFEH you will need to call their discrimination hot line or send the DFEH an email explaining what happened. From there you will be given an appointment to speak with the local DFEH branch. The DFEH will then investigate your complaint. If you do not wish the DFEH to investigate your complain, request an immediate Right to Sue instead. If the DFEH dismisses your claim you can not make a state lawsuit.<\/p>\n

If your job as more than 15 employees you can file with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (or EEOC for short). To file with the EEOC you will need to look up and contact your nearest EEOC office by mail, phone, or in person. From there an EEOC representative will contact you. You may be given an appointment to speak with the representative in person. If the EEOC dismisses your claim, then you can not make a federal lawsuit.<\/p>\n

When filing a claim tell the group you contact that you want to cross-file. This will allow both organizations to share information between each other which can help speed things up. If you cross-file you will only have to file once as both agencies will have your information.<\/p>\n

If your case can not be resolved by the EEOC and has not been dismissed by them, you may contact an attorney to help you file a federal lawsuit. If you filed with the EEOC and did not get a Right to Sue, you will file a Dismissal and Notice of Rights form instead. Once either form has been filled you have 90 days to file a lawsuit with the court. If the lawsuit is not filed in time you will lose the ability to file a lawsuit for that claim.<\/p>\n

If your claim was dismissed by the DFEH you may request a Right to Sue from the DFEH. From there you have 365 days from the day the dismissal was issued in which you may file a state lawsuit. California state law is generally more favorable than federal law due to the fact that there are no limits on damages that can be awarded. If the lawsuit is not filed in time you will lose the ability to file a lawsuit for that claim.<\/p>\n

Filing for discrimination is a long journey, but getting started early and cross-filing will help. If you think you have been discriminated against contact the EEOC or the DFEH today to get the process started.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Shutterstock\/ Billion Photos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discrimination is unfair treatment of a person due to their protected characteristics. California law recognizes many common targets for discrimination. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discrimination"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n