Employment Discrimination Overview

Though it has been over 60 years since the civil rights movement has begun discrimination in the work place still persist, and has transformed. Work place and employment discrimination does not just have to be based on the color of your skin, but it can also be based on your age, gender, religion, and disabilities. For those who are unfamiliar with the other types of discrimination, they all refer to the mistreating, wrongful termination, or refusal to hire someone based solely on their age, gender, religion, and any disabilities they may have. Of these types of discrimination, only age discrimination is really a grey area as most laws normally refer to those who are 40 years or older.

Over the past 60 years there have been laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 USC 1981, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) established to act as barriers to prevent employment discrimination, however Title VII and the ADEA only protect those who were discriminated against by employers with 15 and 20 employees minimum respectively. With that said there is still more to be done to help prevent discrimination in the work place. Fortunately if you live in the state of Michigan, there is also the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act which covers all employers in the state, regardless of the number of employees in the company. This act prohibits discrimination based on race, skin color, religion, gender, age, height, weight, familial status, and or martial status. Unlike the ADEA, this act also protects those who are discriminated against in the work place due to their young age, not just those who are 40 years old and over.

To further protect workers, Michigan also requires those with disabilities that need accommodations such as wheelchair ramps and wheelchair accessible desks to notify their employers in writing within 182 days after the need is known. This gives an adequate amount of time for the employee to deem what accommodations are necessary for their needs and to be able to work efficiently and allows them to work these accommodations out with their employer before legal action has to be sought after.

Many more states need to take a stand against work place discrimination and pass state laws much like Michigan to prevent employment discrimination, instead of just depending on outdated Federal Acts that only protect those that are discriminated against under certain circumstances such as the size of the business you work at.

This articles is not meant to be legal advice.
Find out if you can recover money damages, regain your job (if fired), and require your employer pay for legal fees. If you need an employment discrimination lawyer in Michigan, contact us today to discuss your case.
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