Civil Rights Law

Civil rights are enforceable rights or privileges granted by a governmental agency. If someone interferes with our civil rights, we have recourse, thanks to the statutes that have been enacted by the U.S. constitution to protect these rights. 

These statutes include laws that are intended to protect every United States citizen from discrimination based on race, religion, gender, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, age, national origin, membership, or class. 

Federal law also makes it a point to protect workers in the workplace. This typically covers the application procedure, the hiring and firing of employees, recruitment of employees, employee compensation, employee tenure, layoffs, laws regarding employee leave, and fringe benefits. 

Remember Affirmative Action? Affirmative Action Plans (AAPs) were created to set standards for the hiring and promotion of women and minorities to eliminate discrimination in the workplace. While California has passed referenda making it illegal to make classifications on the basis of race, some states still have such plans.

Age discrimination is illegal in employment, thanks to the Federal Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA) for people over the age of 40 – that is, employers cannot arbitrarily discriminate against someone because of their age. 

Gender discrimination can become obvious when someone is subjected to unequal treatment simply because of their gender. This becomes apparent often during an interview process, often by the type of questions asked and/or the reasons one is not given a position, promotion, or is wrongfully terminated. Sexual harassment in the work or school environment is also another example or a civil rights violation.

The American Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted to protect workers who are otherwise qualified to work in their place of employment from discrimination from employers and/or coworkers. This protection covers the application process, the hiring and firing process, employee compensation, advancement, fringe benefits, etc. An employee with a physical or mental disability cannot be discriminated against because of his or her disability. An example of this might be an employee who takes medication for a certain psychological disorder, such as depression, or someone who has epilepsy. 

Discrimination comes in many shapes and sizes. If you feel you are not being given a fair opportunity because you are being discriminated against, you may need to seek legal counsel. Find a civil right law attorney in the Internet Lawyer Directory.