There are several federal laws that give rise to discrimination claims.
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964—Prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Claims that can arise under this law include sexual harassment and harassment related to any protected category, retaliation, discriminatory hiring and firing, adverse treatment because of a protected category, or that a neutral policy has a disparate impact on a protected group.
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act—Prohibits discrimination against employees or applicants age 40 and older. Claims that can arise under this law include discriminatory hiring and firing, adverse treatment because of age, or that a neutral policy has a disparate impact on employees over age 40.
• Equal Pay Act —Prohibits discrimination based on gender in salary paid to workers who perform substantially similar work under similar conditions. Claims that can arise under this law assert that women are paid less than men who perform the same or substantially similar jobs.
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act—Prohibits employers and prospective employers from discriminating on the basis of pregnancy or childbirth-related medical conditions. Claims that can arise under this law assert that female workers were not hired or were terminated because they are pregnant.
• Americans with Disabilities Act—Prohibits discrimination against qualified employees and applicants with disabilities. In addition, reasonable accommodations must be made for the known physical and mental limitations of qualified employees or applicants with disabilities unless they create undue hardship. Claims that can arise under this law include discriminatory hiring and firing, retaliation, or failure to make reasonable accommodations.
• Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act—Prohibits discrimination against employees and applicants based on genetic information. Claims that can arise under this law include discriminatory hiring and firing and adverse treatment based on genetic information.
• Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act—Prohibits discrimination against employees and applicants based on service or membership in the uniformed services. Claims that can arise under this law include discriminatory hiring and retention and retaliation.
By: Hanna Yurkovetskaya