Employment Discrimination Laws

Landmark acts that spawned U.S. Federal employment discrimination laws (statutes) enforced by the EEOC are listed below.

States and municipalities are allowed to enact their own employment discrimination laws that include or expand the provisions in the Federal laws. For example, some states make it unlawful for employers to discriminate based on sexual orientation, smoking or weight, in addition to the discriminations that the Federal laws prohibit. Some states and municipalities refer to their employment discrimination laws as fair employment practices laws, and they are typically enforced by local equal employment opportunity offices or civil rights agencies. To research employment discrimination laws in your state, start with the links in State Labor and Employment Law.

Employment discrimination laws do not apply to independent contractors. That's because genuine independent contractors are self-employed. As such, they are not employees, at least according to labor laws. However, if an employer has misclassified employees as independent contractors, then employment discrimination laws might retroactively apply after a government agency or court makes a misclassification determination.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Prohibits employment age discrimination against individuals who are at least forty, but less than sixty-five years old.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Title I and V prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals who have disabilities, because of their disabilities.

Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII prohibits discrimination in compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Civil Rights Act of 1991
Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to strengthen and improve Federal civil rights laws, provide monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination, and for a variety of other reasons.

Equal Pay Act of 1963
Prohibits wage discrimination between men and women who work jobs that require equal skill, effort, and responsibility, in the same establishment and under similar working conditions.

Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Sections 501 and 505 prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the Federal government.

Other Federal laws, not enforced by the EEOC, also prohibit employment discrimination or "discriminatory" reprisal. For example,

Bankruptcy Act
An employer can't discriminate against you because a credit background check revealed that you sought protection under the Bankruptcy Act. In other words, an employer can't deny you employment or job promotion or reassignment, solely because of bankruptcy or the bad debts you had before you claimed bankruptcy.

Civil Service Reform Act
Prohibits Federal employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, marital status, political affiliation and sexual orientation. It also prohibits reprisal against employees who exercise their appeal, complaint or grievance rights.

Whistleblower Protection Act
An amendment to the Civil Service Reform Act, it protects an employee from retaliation for reporting an employer's illegal actions to the proper authorities. (A variety of other laws help to enforce protection.) A "friendly" explanation of whistle blowing in the private sector is offered by the Discrimination Attorney Web site, owned by a California attorney specializing in these matters. Some of his opinions might apply to California only, but might also apply to some degree in your state, too.

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