Kansas City Employment Lawyer

A Brief Look at the Most Common Forms of Employment Violations

All employees are protected by state and federal laws from workplace discrimination, harassment, and acts of retaliation. There are many ways in which these laws can be violated. However, there are some violations that occur more often than others.

Discrimination in the Workplace

Workplace discrimination can take many forms and is not just limited to the employees that already work for the business. Discrimination can also occur with hiring practices. All forms of discrimination are prohibited by state and federal laws.

Age Discrimination

Employees age 40 and over are protected from workplace discrimination based on their age. Decisions regarding hiring, promoting, laying off, project placement, job duties, and similar decisions cannot be based on the age of the employee. Missouri’s anti-discrimination statute only protects employees age 40-69. Once you turn 70, you are outside the age class protected from discrimination. Therefore, if you experienced age discrimination on or after your 70th birthday, you must exclusively rely on federal laws.

Sex Discrimination

Sex discrimination is illegal under state and several federal laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A person cannot be discriminated against or singled out based on their gender. This includes only hiring men or women for a specific position, retaliation for pregnancy or childbirth, unequal pay for the same job position, and hiring and firing practices. It is important to understand that sex discrimination applies equally to both sexes.

Racial Discrimination

Discrimination based on race is protected by several federal and state laws. Racial discrimination involves treating someone differently because of their race, perceived race, or if their relationship with people of a certain race. Racial discrimination applies to all races. Racial discrimination also includes harassment that is racial in nature. Such harassment can take the form of derogatory remarks, unfair criticism, racial slurs, inappropriate jokes, and a wide variety of other conduct.

Religious Discrimination

All employees have federal and state protections to observe any religion without discrimination. Additionally, there are protections in place that require employers to make accommodations for some religious practices within the workplace, such as allowing certain headwear to be worn, allowing times for prayers, and allowing days off for specific religious holidays.

Disability Discrimination

It is illegal to discriminate against someone based on disability or perceived disability. There are several federal and state laws that prevent employers from discriminating against those with a disability who could perform the job in question. If you believe that you have been a victim of this type of discrimination, speak with a disability attorney Kansas City about your rights to seek compensation.

Proving discrimination in the workplace can be difficult. Think about it; people do not come out and say, “I am not hiring you because you are Jewish” or “I am putting a new person in your position because we want someone who looks young to work our front office.” Employers that discriminate against their employees will use excuses like poor work performance or attendance issues to get rid of an employee they don’t like. When an employer gives a false reason for taking adverse action against an employee in order to hide a discriminatory motive, the false reason is referred to as “pretext.”

Proving pretext can be challenging unless you have the right Kansas City employment attorneys managing your case. Your attorneys will be able to obtain the evidence that is necessary to show how an action taken by the employer against you as an employee or potential employee was made based on discrimination, and not the reasons that they provided. A qualified Kansas City discrimination lawyer knows exactly where to look to find the information to back your case.