What are some employment discrimination examples?
Employment discrimination can take many forms. For example, somebody could be fired after disclosing a pregnancy. Other examples are people who have disabilities and request an accommodation and get denied those accommodations for any reason.
Employment discrimination can happen either subtly or overtly. And so it's really important that you speak with a California discrimination attorney who can distinguish between these types of discrimination.
There are also strict deadlines that apply to discrimination in the workplace. So make sure that you don't waste any time and talk to an attorney as soon as possible. Usually, the first consultation is free.
The subtle patterns people miss
Discrimination doesn't always look like a slur or a blunt firing. It can look like being passed over for a promotion you were clearly qualified for, quietly excluded from meetings your peers attend, hit with a sudden negative review right after you disclosed a pregnancy or disability, or paid less than a similarly situated coworker outside your protected group. None of that looks like the dramatic scenario most people picture when they hear the word discrimination, which is part of why so much of it goes unreported.
Two different legal theories
Most discrimination claims fall into one of two categories, and most people only think about the first:
- Disparate treatment. You were treated worse specifically because of a protected trait
- Disparate impact, a neutral-looking policy, like a strict attendance rule or a physical test, that ends up falling much harder on one protected group than others
Why the distinction matters
Which theory fits changes what actually counts as evidence: comments, comparisons to coworkers, and timing for the first; data on who a policy really affects in practice for the second. An attorney can help sort out which one, or both, fits your situation before you decide on next steps.
