Federal Anti-Employment Discrimination Laws

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII) makes it illegal to discriminate against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, or national origin.  These categories are sometimes called “protected personal characteristics.”  Title VII also prohibits treating an employee unfavorably because the employee is married to, or has a social or family relationship with, a person with a protected personal characteristic.  It is also illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee for asking about employee rights under Title VII, or for objecting to employer policies or actions that are illegal under Title VII.  Title VII applies to most employers with 15 or more employees and covers a broad spectrum of employment decisions including hiring, firing, and other decisions concerning terms and conditions of employment.

In most cases, employees may have to bring claims through an administrative process with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or its state-level equivalents (Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries (BOLI) and Washington Human Rights Commission (HRC)) before they can bring their Title VII claims against their employers in court.  There are strict timelines for filing these kinds of administrative complaints, so employees who believe their rights have been violated shouldn’t delay in seeking legal advice.  However, the administrative process requirement doesn’t apply to claims under Oregon or Washington state anti-discrimination laws.  State laws still have time limitations, but they aren’t as short as the time to file an administrative complaint with a state or federal agency.  Employees who haven’t filed an administrative complaint may still be able to bring a lawsuit against their employers under state laws.

Employees who have been wrongfully fired, demoted, or denied a promotion or raise due to a protected personal characteristic, who have been subjected to intolerable insults or intimidation due to a protected personal characteristic, or who suffered retaliation for asking about discrimination protections or objecting to policies or actions that violate Title VII may have legal claims against their employers for money damages, legal costs and fees, court orders requiring the employer to remedy the unlawful circumstances, and other remedies.

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment against a qualified individual with a disability.  It applies to most employers with at least 15 employees.

A “disability” under the ADA is a medical impairment – physical, cognitive, emotional / behavioral, or otherwise – that significantly limits a person in a major life activity.  The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable, effective job accommodations to disabled employees who request an accommodation for a disability.  The ADA also restricts the amount of medical information employers can request from disabled employees, and whether and when the employer can ask a disabled employee to take a medical test or have a medical exam.  The ADA also protects employees from discrimination in employment and in their hiring, pay, promotions, or termination on the basis that the employee has a disability, has a history of a disability, is believed by the employer to be disabled (whether correctly or not), or has a personal or family relationship with a disabled person.

In most cases, employees may have to bring claims through an administrative process with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or its state-level equivalents (Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries (BOLI) and Washington Human Rights Commission (HRC)) before they can bring their ADA claims against their employers in court.  There are strict timelines for filing these kinds of administrative complaints, so employees who believe their rights have been violated shouldn’t delay in seeking legal advice.  However, the administrative process requirement doesn’t apply to claims under Oregon or Washington state anti-discrimination and accommodation laws.  State laws still have time limitations, but they aren’t as short as the time to file an administrative complaint with a state or federal agency.  Employees who haven’t filed an administrative complaint may still be able to bring a lawsuit against their employers under state laws.

Employers cannot fire or retaliate against employees for asking about their rights to ADA accommodations or for requesting an accommodation, and they cannot fire or discriminate against employees due to the employee’s disability.  Employees who have been denied a job accommodation, wrongfully fired or denied a promotion due to a disability, or suffered retaliation for asking about or requesting ADA accommodations may have legal claims against the employer for money damages, legal costs and fees, court orders requiring the employer to remedy the unlawful circumstances, and other remedies.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits discrimination against employees who are age 40 or older in any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.  The ADEA applies to most employers with 20 or more employees.

The ADEA forbids age discrimination against workers who are age 40 or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40 and it is not illegal under the ADEA for an employer to favor an older worker over a younger one.  However, Oregon and Washington state laws also protect younger workers from age discrimination.

In most cases, employees may have to bring claims through an administrative process with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or its state-level equivalents (Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries (BOLI) and Washington Human Rights Commission (HRC)) before they can bring their ADEA claims against their employers in court.  There are strict timelines for filing these kinds of administrative complaints, so employees who believe their rights have been violated shouldn’t delay in seeking legal advice.  However, the administrative process requirement doesn’t apply to claims under Oregon or Washington state anti-discrimination laws.  State laws still have time limitations, but they aren’t as short as the time to file an administrative complaint with a state or federal agency.  Employees who haven’t filed an administrative complaint may still be able to bring a lawsuit against their employers under state laws.

Employees who have been wrongfully fired, demoted, or denied a promotion or raise due to age, who have been subjected to intolerable insults or intimidation due to age, or who suffered retaliation for asking about discrimination protections or objecting to policies or actions that violate the ADEA may have legal claims against their employers for money damages, legal costs and fees, court orders requiring the employer to remedy the unlawful circumstances, and other remedies.

The federal Equal Pay Act (EPA) generally prohibits employers from paying men and women different wages for doing the same work.  The “same” work means work performed under similar conditions and that requires similar skill, effort, and responsibility.  However, the EPA does not prohibit employers from taking factors other than sex into account, such as seniority, merit, or productivity.  The EPA also doesn’t prohibit pay discrimination on the basis of other protected personal characteristics, although employees may still have claims for pay discrimination under other laws.  Both Oregon and Washington state laws, as well as Title VII, prohibit pay discrimination based on protected personal characteristics.

The federal EPA applies to virtually all employers.  Women workers who have been paid less than their male counterparts for the same work may have claims against their employers under the federal EPA for unpaid wages, an equal amount in “liquidated damages,” and legal costs and fees.