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Discrimination and harassment cause wide-ranging harm
You should feel safe and secure at your place of employment. It sounds like a simple thing, but if you're reading this post, then you may have felt threatened, harassed, or treated unfairly at work.
Despite being illegal for decades, sexual harassment and workplace discrimination are rampant in Maryland workplaces, leaving individuals like you missing out on key employment opportunities and facing retaliation for reporting harassing and discriminatory behavior.
Yet, a lot of people who are subjected to harassment and discrimination let the matter go without taking any formal action. Sometimes this is because they fail to recognize the egregious behavior for what it is, and in other instances they think that it's easier to just let it go and deal with the consequence than to fight for accountability.
This just perpetuates the cycle of harassment and discrimination, which is one reason why you should fight to hold your employer responsible for the harm that they've caused to you. And don't for a second think that those damages are minor. In fact, the true harm caused by harassment and discrimination is more severe than many people realize.
Five tips for building your age discrimination claim
If you're 40 years of age or older, then there's a good chance that you have additional workplace protections against age discrimination. Yet, despite laws prohibiting age discrimination, the issue continues to run rampant in workplaces across the country. One reason is that workers simply can't identify when age discrimination occurs. In some instances, these individuals minimize the behavior exhibited towards them, while in others they aren't aware of their employer's motivation for taking certain actions against them.
But you can't afford to let your employer get away with workplace discrimination. If you do, then you could wind up with a stunted career, lost income, a damaged reputation, and mental anguish. To avoid those outcomes, you need to take legal action to hold your employer accountable for the age discrimination they've exhibited towards you.
How can you build an effective age discrimination case?
You have to be thorough as you build your age discrimination case. This means taking the following actions to develop your claim:
What to know about the ADA's reasonable accommodations provision
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides legal protections to disabled workers. These protections apply to all state and local governments, as well as private businesses that employ 15 or more people.
One of the key protections provided by the ADA is the right to request reasonable accommodations. Here, a disabled worker can request a modification to hiring practices or work environment to allow them an equal opportunity to secure the job in question, effectively perform their job duties, and enjoy the benefits of their job.
And reasonable accommodations can cover a lot. For example, you might be able to successfully request physical changes to your workspace, the installation of beneficial computer programming, the use of interpreters or closed captioning at meetings, and the use of a service animal. So, think through what you need to be successful at your place of work, then consider requesting the accommodations that are right for you.
When does workplace harassment become illegal?
Most of us maintain friendly and professional relationships with our work colleagues. But no matter what job or industry you work in, you are bound to encounter colleagues you do not get along with or who cause you frustration, anger or make your job more difficult.
This sometimes leads to workplace conflicts. While conflict is to be expected at times, if you are feeling harassed by another employee, you may wonder when the harassing conduct crosses the line and becomes illegal.
According to the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission ("EEOC"), workplace harassment becomes illegal when the unwelcome conduct is based on certain categories. Some of these categories include age, color, disability, national origin, race or religion.
Harassment also becomes illegal when it turns your working environment hostile. A hostile work environment is one where the harassment becomes severe enough to create a substantially negative work environment.
Avoid these mistakes in your workplace discrimination case
You should enjoy the equal employment opportunities that are provided to others at your job. Yet, employers often try to get away with discrimination to force employees out and to avoid recognizing their hard work.
If you've suffered an adverse employment decision because of your status in a protected class, then you should think about taking legal action to hold your employer accountable and to recover the compensation that you're owed.
While a workplace discrimination lawsuit might give you hope, as it should, these cases tend to be complex. And there are several missteps that can be made along the way that can jeopardize your claim. Therefore, you'll want to proceed with care and be cognizant of the mistakes that could cost you your ability to win your case.
Mistakes to avoid in your workplace discrimination case
Your workplace discrimination case might seem straightforward, but it can be complicated by a number of factors, including any errors that you make. To avoid making your case more convoluted, avoid making these mistakes:
Wrongful termination of professionals in Maryland
When a company decides to terminate an employee, a person from human resources or a supervisor may have a conversation with said employee to explain the reasons for the termination. In some cases, the employee may accept these reasons without issue and move on to their next employment opportunity. In other cases, however, the employee may dispute the employer's reasons or find them to be unsatisfactory.
In at-will employment states such as Maryland, even unsatisfactory reasons for termination are acceptable, as long as the reasons are legal. The following examples may constitute legal reasons to terminate an employee:
- The employee was not getting along with their coworkers.
- The employee was regularly absent or late.
- The employee failed to perform up to the standards of the employer.
- The employee violated a workplace policy.
What constitutes a wrongful termination?
If you have been fired for an illegal reason, you may have a valid claim against your employer for wrongful termination. To prove wrongful termination, you will need to establish that your termination violated public policy and that there was a connection between your termination and the public policy. Under federal and state public policies, an employer cannot fire an employee for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons:
5 ways to start building your sexual harassment case
Despite extensive efforts to curtail it, sexual harassment continues to plague Maryland workplaces. This behavior can make a worker feel uncomfortable, threatened, and even endangered. No one deserves to go through that in their workplace.
Making matters worse, though, is the fact that those who report sexual harassment often end up being retaliated against by their employers. As a result, sexually harassed workers can be reassigned, demoted, subjected to reduced hours, or terminated as a result of denying unwanted sexual advances or reporting unacceptable behavior.
If that's happened to you, then you need to find a way to hold your employer accountable while recovering compensation for the harm that's been caused to you. But figuring out where to start can be tough. That's why we want to spend the rest of this post looking at what you can do to position your sexual harassment or retaliation legal claim for success.
What can I do if I am not being paid overtime?
An opportunity to work overtime is something many Maryland employees take advantage of. Maryland law allows most workers to receive 1.5 times their usual hourly wage in overtime, which is defined as any hours worked over 40 in a regular work week.
The term "wages" has various definitions beyond your hourly rate. Bonuses, commissions, tips and fringe benefits are all considered wages that your employer must legally pay you if you are entitled to them.
There are also many different activities that could constitute work. The definition of work is a service performed by an employee at the employer's request, under the employer's control and on the employer's time.
You are not required to perform or accomplish anything to be considered working. If you show up to a job on time and your employer tells you to do nothing for a few hours, you are still considered working and entitled to your hourly rate and any overtime if it applies.
Can my criminal record be held against me?
You are probably familiar with some of the more common types of workplace discrimination, such as those based on race, religion, sex or ethnicity. However, what happens if you believe you are being discriminated against because of your criminal background?
Many jobs today conduct background checks on prospective employees. These background checks often include reviewing a job candidate's criminal history. This could include criminal convictions, arrests or both.
In some cases, yes it can
These background checks are not illegal. In fact, there are some laws that state people with certain types of criminal records cannot be hired for certain jobs, which makes these background checks necessary.
However, the law forbids employers from treating employees with criminal records differently based on their race or natural origin.
Additionally, criminal history policies that are overly broad could be deemed illegal if it is determined that they unfairly exclude certain people or fail to accurately predict who will be a safe and responsible employee.
Age discrimination still all-too-common in the workplace
In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which among other things prohibited discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Just three years later, Congress passed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which prohibited discrimination in the workplace on the basis of age for those aged 40 or older.
As we all know, discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin has continued despite the law. However, most employers and workers are at least somewhat aware of these protections. By contrast, age discrimination appears to be little understood even today, nearly 60 years after the passage of the ADEA. It's also apparently widespread in American workplaces.
Widespread discrimination
According to a recent AARP survey, over 40% of American workers age 40 and over say they had been discriminated against because of their age within the past three years. A similar number reported that their age is their primary concern when they are looking for work.
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