Employers who Commit Religious Discrimination

Religion is one sensitive personal preference that employers need to respect. According to the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a company owner is prohibited from committing discrimination within the different employment processes such as hiring, firing and other terms of service towards people due to their chosen religion.

One particular case reported in a press release by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) stated that a corporation, Family Foods Inc, which manages a chain of Taco Bell restaurants is about to provide $27, 000 to an employee just to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit. This was after the company ordered an employee named Christopher Abbey to cut his hair or face termination. Abbey considers his religion as a Nazirite and according to its creed, he was bound not to cut his locks.

The employment decisions of the Family Foods Inc. clearly showed that it is forcing the said employee to follow its order through threats of termination. Therefore, it breaches the laws under the constitution that seek to protect workers. There are similar cases like these within populous places such as the state of California, specifically its main city, Los Angeles.

Consequently, the EEOC since its creation in July 2, 1965 had tackled a lot of disputes that arose from the differences which companies fail to reconcile with their workers. In relation to this, an employee who wishes to file a complaint through the EEOC must first do the following to ensure that he or she is making a valid complaint:

Disability is not a Hindrance in Achieving a Dream Job

Having disability does not prevent a person from being employed in a job that he or she wishes to be into. In fact, through the Disability Statistics website presented by Cornell University, 36 percent of the United States labor sector was found out to be comprised of employees with disabilities. This just shows that physical or mental impediments are not really a hindrance to someone who is strongly motivated to pursue a dream job in life. 

Breaking up the stated 36 percent, the statistics meant that some 6,612,900 Americans who had disabilities aged 21-64 are currently employed in the country. It is then justifiable for the government to create laws that would correspond to such segment of society. One of these distinguishable laws is the Americans with Disabilities Act

Americans with Disabilities (ADA) This is one of the laws enacted by the United States Congress in the year 1990. President George H.W. Bush signed it into law on July 26, 1990 but it was later amended in January 2009. Under the ADA, employers, co-workers and customers of companies who have applicants or employees with disabilities are prohibited from committing acts of discrimination. Disability under the ADA is defined as the physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. Here are some of the specific provisions under the ADA:

Racial Discrimination: Its Roots and Forms

Some people are likely to believe that their race is superior to others. These beliefs have led to the death of thousands and even millions across the globe.

Historically, World War II started due to Hitler’s quest to show humankind that Germans were far superior. This ended brutally, making people realize that humans are created equal and would therefore need to have equal rights. 

Experts in the field of human interaction, on the other hand, called the act of humiliating or maltreating people belonging to different race as racial discrimination.   Some of the elements that constitute this are the following:

·         Color

·         Race

·         National Origin

The law specified under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its corresponding amendment in 1991 strictly forbids racial discrimination in the United States. This country was said to have been created due to the involvement of different states, and it would therefore be a violation to its creation if people discriminate one another. 

HIV/AIDS in Employment is nothing New

Recently, a wrongful termination lawsuit was filed against The Ivy, a Los Angeles restaurant famous for its high-end customers such as Hollywood stars like Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton, and Jennifer Aniston.

Reymundo Martinez, its former employee, filed the lawsuit at the California Supreme Court with the help of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

The reason: he was allegedly discriminated against and terminated by The Ivy for being HIV-positive.

Martinez worked at The Ivy for five months as a busser. During his stint at the restaurant, on December 2010, he was diagnosed with HIV. He took medication after a month, but the drugs’ strong side effects forced him to stay home for a day. However, The Ivy management told him not to return to work for the remainder of the week.

His doctor promptly requested The Ivy to facilitate Martinez’s request on work schedule change. However, the restaurant management denied Martinez accommodations. He was terminated immediately.

Martinez is yet another victim of discrimination for being HIV-positive. This also shows that employment discrimination on the basis of medical condition is not new in the society. A lot of cases concerning people with HIV or AIDS have been brought up to people’s consciousness ever since the disease was made known to the world in the 1980s.

Common Issues that Happen in the Workplace

A person’s lifetime is mostly spent on work. For the first-time employee, the fact of being employed is a fun way to gather work experience, wherein he or she gets to deal with quality-oriented tasks and with people around him or her.

Along the way, he or she may experience competition, wherein the possibility of getting promoted or earning a salary increase hangs in the balance. With good attitude and working experience, the person may be well on his or her way to achieve a good standing in the company. This, in turn, can create a decent working environment for all people in the workplace.

Workplace issues

However, working on a job, especially in the corporate setting, is not without its issues. Poor management of most employment aspects, such as hiring, termination, and allocation of wages may lead to unforeseen incidents.

Working relationships may get out of hand because of this. For instance, the professional relationship between the employer and the employee may become affected, especially if the former takes advantage or does something wrong to the latter. Also, working relationships between co-workers may become affected, wherein gossip and personal issues may decrease the employee’s ability to perform well.

Here are some issues that are common inside the workplace:

·         Harassment – Harassing someone can come in many forms. It could be done to inflict physical harm, as in physical harassment. It could also be done through verbal communication which could hurt the feelings of the person; as in verbal harassment. Display of actions or materials of sexual nature, or sexual favors in exchange for employment benefits, constitute sexual harassment.

·         Discrimination – Either it is done in an act or a spoken word, employment discrimination has been one of the growing problems in U.S. Biases in all the aspects of employment, including hiring, allocation of tasks, distribution of compensation, and termination, constitute discrimination. It usually involves jokes, comments, gestures and slurs that are distasteful to the protective classes, including physical or mental disability, age, race, sex, and nation of origin.

There are other workplace issues that are usually forms of misconduct, such as unfair wage allocation, acts of retaliation from the employer, and wrongful termination. Such issues must be dealt with accordingly by the victim through the help of an employment law attorney.

How to File a Discrimination Charge with the EEOC

Employment discrimination is still a rampant problem these days. Many applicants and employers are still discriminated against in all aspects of employment, including hiring and termination. Good thing there is one federal agency that is ready to lend a helping hand on discrimination victims by enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws against erring employers. This agency is called the EEOC, or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

A person who believes that his or her rights as an applicant or an employee had been violated may file a discrimination charge with the EEOC. Not only can one person do it; even an organization or an agency can do so. Collective effort in filing a charge may be done on behalf of the victim. This is to help protect his or her identity.

In filing a charge with the EEOC, the person or the group may first fill out an intake questionnaire. Complainants who need accommodation, such as a sign language interpreter, must immediately inform the EEOC so that arrangements can be made accordingly.

In the actual filing of the discrimination charge, the complainant or the complaining party must provide the following information:

·         The complaining party’s name, address, and telephone number

·         The employment agency, respondent employer or employment agency’s name, address, and telephone number

·         The number of employees or union members involved, if there is any

·         The date, location, and a short description of the alleged violation of employment rights

The complainant/s must first file a discrimination charge with the EEOC first before taking on a private lawsuit. This will only apply if the EEOC does not find any violation on the part of the employer.

Strict limits are implemented on the filing of charges. The complainant/s whose employer violated a federal employment law must file a charge within 180 days from the day of the alleged violation. The deadline is extended if the charge is also covered by a state and/or local employment law. For charges related to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), only state laws extend the filing deadline to 300 days.

Things to Consider before Filing a Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

It is normal for  a lot of employees to be mad if they got terminated. The first thing that might enter their minds is why it happened, especially if they did not do anything wrong.

It might be a bit of a relief on the part of the former employees to file complaints so as to  alleviate their anger towards the person responsible for their illegal termination.

However, making a claim is not always as easy as it may seem to be. It takes a lot of thinking and analysis on the aspects that may make or break the claim. It is important to understand certain policies that will create a great impact on the result of the incident.

In dealing with illegal termination, former employees have to know about the following so as to deal with the case properly:

1. It would not make sense to file a complaint at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) if the applicant has worked for the employer for just a short period of time. Also, if the EEOC believes that the applicant will not have a hard time looking for another job, the complaint will probably not progress.
2. Getting a great lawyer is not that easy. It would take a lot of time, money, and effort to  find a lawyer who can professionally and successfully handle the case.
3. Evidence and witnesses are necessary in the litigation process. They are important to prove that wrongful termination took place.  As an advice, contact a top notch lawyer in your place to guarantee that you will get favorable results.
4. Any accurate reason can be used to prove the employer’s wrongful conduct.
5. The process of litigation or filling a complaint can be very draining in terms of mental, physical, and emotional aspects.   With this, it is important to go into the legal battle very much prepared.
6. Filing a wrongful termination lawsuit or complaint can affect the future job hunting of the complainant. It may delay his or her application, as further investigation may be done by the prospective employer.