The Discrimination Factor
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In the U.S., employment discrimination occurs whenever an employer or its representatives adversely single out employees or applicants on the basis of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion and a variety of other reasons.
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), employers can’t discriminate against you in any aspect of employment, such as:
Hiring and firing
Compensation, assignment, or classification of employees
Transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall
Job advertisements
Recruitment
Testing
Use of company facilities
Training and apprenticeship programs
Fringe benefits
Pay, retirement plans, and disability leave
But to be “illegal” discrimination, your employer must be in violation of a specific state or Federal law (statute), regulation or constitutional provision. Otherwise, you are not generally protected from discrimination, however unfair or unethical it may seem.
For example, if your boss is much harder on you than anyone else for no apparent reason, while it might be unethical behavior for a boss, it’s not discrimination by law. But if he or she is extra hard on you for a reason that’s protected by law, such as your religion, age or sex, then its illegal discrimination, especially if you suffer damage such as getting passed over for a well-deserved raise or promotion.