Employment Discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee or group of employees differently than other similarly situated employees due to them being in a class protected by federal and state anti-discrimination laws. The adverse treatment may include failure to hire, failure to promote, unequal pay for the same work, harassment including sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment and termination. Generally, these laws only apply to employers with 15 or more employees. The employers covered by these laws include privately held companies, non-profits as well as federal, state, county and municipal governments. These laws also prohibit an employer from retaliating against employees who complain about unlawful discriminatory practices. Employees who are victims of discrimination cannot file an action in court until after they file a complaint with the EEOC or TWC. After 180 days, an employee can request a “right to sue” letter from the EEOC if their case remains unresolved. 

The major laws prohibiting employment discrimination include:

 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and certain Texas State laws makes it unlawful to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation and national origin.

The Americans with Disability Act (“ADA”) and specific Texas state laws protect employees against disability discrimination. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which is similar to the ADA, protects federal government employees. The definition of a person with a disability is someone who: a) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; b) has a record of such an impairment; or c) is regarded by the employer as having such an impairment. Under the federal and state laws, employers must reasonably accommodate an employee’s disabilities. An employer may reject an employee’s request for a certain accommodation(s) if granting such request poses an undue hardship.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects employees aged 40 or older from employment discrimination because of their age.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions unless it poses an undue hardship to the employer.

The Equal Pay Act (EPA) prohibits employers from paying different wages to men and women for performing the same work. This means that jobs requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and performed under similar working conditions, must have the same pay for both genders. The EPA covers all forms of compensation, including salary, overtime, bonuses, and benefits. 

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act  extends the protections afforded by the EPA  and states that the statute of limitations for filing an equal pay claim regarding pay discrimination resets with each new paycheck affected by that discriminatory action. It allows employees to challenge pay discrimination based on sex and also on race, national origin, religion, or disability, even if the discriminatory decision occurred in the past. The Act essentially resets the statute of limitations for filing a claim with each new paycheck that reflects the discriminatory pay, making it easier for employees to pursue legal action. 

Employees who are victims of employment discrimination cannot wait indefinitely to file a discrimination complaint with the EEOC or TWC. Employees must file a claim with the TWC within 180 days from the date of their employer’s discriminatory action; to file with the EEOC, employees have 300 days. The deadline usually starts to run when the employee knew or should have known of the adverse action. Note that the timelines for federal employees to file a discrimination complaint with the EEO Office within their agency is different as is the process that is followed by these Agencies in processing discrimination complaints. Generally, employees file an informal complaint which if not resolved becomes a formal complaint. If the issue is still not resolved, the employee may request a hearing before an Administrative Judge of the EEOC.   

Initially, private sector and state, county and municipal government employees file what is called an “inquiry” with the EEOC and must wait for several months to meet with a representative of the EEOC before a formal Charge is filed. However, if the employee retains an Attorney to represent them before the EEOC, the Attorney can file a formal Charge on behalf of the employee which eliminates the many months of waiting for a meeting with an EEOC representative. Retaining an Attorney is advisable because the Attorney can assist the employee during the EEOC’s investigation of their claim in presenting the best evidence to the EEOC to prove their case and to achieve a desirable settlement. If the employee’s case is not resolved, the Attorney may file a lawsuit on behalf of their Client in federal district court or Texas State court.

Contact Deborah, an experienced Employment Discrimination Lawyer, to set up an appointment to discuss your case.