Racial Discrimination Lawyers
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California Racial, Ethnicity, Color, Ancestry, and National Origin Discrimination Law Firm
Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) your employment is protected from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation on the basis of a protected characteristic of being part of a protected class.
Specifically, California gives you a civil right to have the opportunity to seek and hold employment without discrimination based on your actual or perceived:
Race (a person’s self-identification with one or more societal groups)
Ethnicity (can include cultural, physical, or linguistic characteristics)
Color (your skin color complexion or being associated with a person of a certain race or color.)
Ancestry (ethnic origin, descent, or heritage as well as the place of ancestors before they arrived in the United States)
National origin (place of birth and geographic places of origin including countries that are not presently in existence)
What is Racial, Ethnic, Color, Ancestry, or National Origin Discrimination?
Race, color, and ethnicity can have different meanings to different people, and there may even be overlap. To keep things simple, these types of discrimination typically refers to treating you differently because of:
Where you were born/are from a certain country including, but not limited to:
Tribal affiliation
Name associated with a national origin group
The way you look:
Appear to be from a certain ethnic background
Physical characteristics, such as
skin color,
hair color,
hair texture,
hairstyles,
eye color, and
facial features.
Because of your heritage including, but not limited to:
Membership with an organization that promotes the interests of a national origin group
Participation in schools associated with a national origin group
Attendance in churches, mosques, temples, or religious institutions associated with a national origin group
Marriage to or association with someone with those protected characteristics
However, any discrimination based on your actual or perceived race, ethnicity, color, ancestry, or national origin is illegal in California.
Perceived Race
Racism in employment is illegal even if the person is wrong about your race. The employment laws against discrimination based on race or color also apply to perceived race or color. It is not a defense to racial discrimination if your employer was wrong about your race or color.
Discrimination You Are Protected From
Under the FEHA and federal laws, it is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against you because of your race or color in any aspect of employment. This includes, but is not limited to:
Refusing to hire or employ you
Refusing to select you for a training program
Firing, demoting, or discharging you
Discriminating against you in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment
Pay you less
Reduce your salary
Deny equal pay
Deny a promotion
Deny reinstatement
Deny benefits
Force you to quit
Harass you
Assign different duties
Discriminate against you in any way
Harassment You Are Protected From
If you are being harassed based on race, ethnicity, color, ancestry, or national origin by co-workers, or someone other than a supervisor, you may be able to sue your employer for workplace harassment if your employer behaved negligently. This generally means that your employer knew about the harassment and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent or stop the harassment.
Creating a hostile work environment by co-workers, supervisors, and other employees is also against the law. A hostile work environment may involve:
Experiencing unwelcome comments or conduct at work (workplace bullying)
The harassment is based on your national origin or ethnicity; and
The harassment is pervasive or severe enough to alter the conditions of employment and create a hostile work environment.
It is important to note that a single incident where a co-worker makes a tasteless joke or insensitive remark may not rise to the level of workplace harassment. Instead, the offending behavior generally requires to incredibly pervasive abusive behavior or frequent abusive behavior.
However, it is important to speak with an attorney, like at Kluft Law, P.C. if at any time you feel harassed at work. Contact us today or call us at (626) 432-5422.
Retaliation You Are Protected From
California protects you, as an employee, from any adverse employment action (firing, demotion, refusal to promote, etc.) in response to you:
Opposing workplace harassment, employment discrimination
Filing a complaint about harassment or discrimination
Testifying or assisting in any proceeding under the Fair Employment Housing Act (FEHA); or
Requesting workplace accommodations for your religious beliefs or observances.
You May be Entitled to Damages if You are a Victim of Racial, Ethnic, Color, Ancestry, or National Origin Discrimination
Damages available to victims of discrimination will vary depending on the type of discrimination and the extent of harm the discrimination caused so it is important that you speak with an attorney when you feel that you are being discriminated against.
Awarded monetary damages may include:
Back Wages (the amount of money an employer owes an employee for work that was performed but not properly compensated. Back wages can include: Unpaid wages or salary; Unpaid overtime; Unpaid bonuses or commissions; Unpaid statutory benefits, like paid vacation or sick leave.)
Front Pay (when reinstatement or other remedies aren't possible, for example if there's no available position or the employee's relationship with the employer would be antagonistic. You can be paid the difference between your current pay (if a new job is found) and what you would have earned in your position lost due to discrimination.)
Lost higher income from a denied promotion or raise
Lost Medical benefits
Lost Pension benefits
Unpaid Bonus payments
Pain and suffering (for emotional distress damages)
Equitable remedies (such as rehiring of the employee, though it is rare for victims of discrimination to have a desire to return to a hostile work environment.)
Punitive damages as a way to punish an employer for particularly egregious wrongdoing.
Attorneys Fees and Costs