Palm Beach Gardens Discrimination Attorney
Your success at a job should be defined by how well you do the work. Unfortunately, we live in a world where that is not always the case. Many Florida employers make employment decisions based on certain traits that have nothing do with the work itself, such as an employee or job applicant’s race or gender.
There are numerous federal and state laws in place to address such actions. And if you belong to a protected class, you have the right to take legal action. An experienced Palm Beach Gardens discrimination attorney can advise you further. At the Sconzo Law Office, P.A., we represent clients who have been unfairly and illegally discriminated against in the workplace.
What Laws Protect Me from Workplace Discrimination?
So what are some of the anti-discrimination laws that protect you in the workplace? Here are some of the more common ones that we deal with in representing clients:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII is the main federal employment discrimination law. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, and sex, among other categories. The United States Supreme Court has further extended Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination to include gender orientation and gender identity.
- The Florida Civil Rights Act. This is the state equivalent of Title VII and covers much the same ground. Both the FCRA and Title VII also forbid any harassment based on a protected trait, such as sexual harassment or national origin harassment.
- Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of an employee or job applicant’s disability. This also means that an employer must provide a “reasonable accommodation” for a disability, provided it does not impose an “undue burden” on the business. Employers must still engage in a good-faith interactive process to identify a reasonable accommodation in order to avoid a discrimination charge.
- Equal Pay Act. Federal law requires an employer to pay men and women the same wages for “substantially equal” work. This includes all forms of compensation, including wages, bonuses, and fringe benefits.
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act. An employer cannot discriminate based on an employee or job applicant’s pregnancy, the fact they recently gave birth to a child, or any medical condition arising from their pregnancy. Employers do not have to provide any special leave for pregnancy, but if they do allow employees to take leave for other temporary disabilities, they must also do so for pregnancy.
- Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. GINA forbids employers from using any sort of genetic information when making employment decisions. It also restricts an employer’s ability to request, require, or acquire such information in the first place.
Contact the Sconzo Law Office Today
Bringing a discrimination case often requires an individual to first file a formal charge with either the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Florida Commission on Human Relations. If the agency declines to take direct action, they will issue the employee a “right to sue” letter authorizing them to act instead.
Our Palm Beach Gardens discrimination attorneys can walk you through this process and represent you in taking formal action against an employer. Contact the Sconzo Law Office, P.A., today to schedule a complimentary consultation with a member of our team.
