What Should a Person Know About Equal Employment Opportunity Laws?

By Brandi Fowler

In Brief: (1) Equal Employment Opportunity Laws are designed to protect workers against discrimination. (2) Although EEOC laws exist, discrimination still occurs in the workplace. Workers can use the laws to take action against their employers. (3) Always document discrimination and notify HR if you experience it. It can help your case if you have to file a lawsuit.?

Equal employment opportunity laws make it illegal to discriminate against workers based on their color, race, religion, sex, age, disability, and sexuality. If you experience discrimination at work, you can take steps to combat it.?

How Equal Employment Opportunity Laws Protect You?

Although Equal Employment Opportunity Laws are designed to help prevent discrimination in the workplace, it still occurs.

Nasdaq’s State of Workplace Discrimination study disclosed that 55% of workers experienced discrimination at their current company. In addition, 61% witnessed discrimination happen to others in their workplace or a past job.

Equal Employment Opportunity laws can protect people if they are discriminated against at work, and the laws can be called on if a worker chooses to pursue a lawsuit because of discrimination.?

“It is really important to understand that [EEO] laws not only apply to employees but also if you are applying to a job. It makes it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee based on a person's race, color, religion, sex, which includes pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity, national origin, age (age discrimination is 40 and over), and disability.

“[It applies to] hiring, firing, and promotions, and it also applies to training, wages, and benefits. Our laws also prevent retaliation, harassment, [and sexual harassment].”

— Keith Sonderling is a commissioner at the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.?

??In real life: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act in March 2022 to prohibit race-based hair discrimination, but now its fate rests with the Senate. The “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” Act has only been adopted by 18 states to date.?

How to Utilize Equal Employment Opportunity Laws If You Experience Discrimination

Document instances of discrimination and file a complaint with human resources if you experience discrimination in the workplace.

“If employees do experience discrimination, harassment, or retaliation based on a protected characteristic such as religion, then they have the options of talking with the person who is doing that toward them or going to human resources.”

— Halima Horton White is a partner at the Employment Law Solution.

Some instances may call for further action if you can’t resolve the issue through HR and confronting the person responsible for the harassment.

“If you are being harassed, and you are able to and comfortable, you have a duty to tell your boss, HR, or anyone other than the person harassing you that this is unwelcome and you don't want this to keep occurring. Then, the employer has the duty to stop it from there. That is for harassing situations.?

“If you are not promoted or hired because you are a female, Black, or older [etc.], you have the right to file what is called a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A lot of people don't know you cannot sue your employer in the United States for discrimination without coming to the EEOC first.”

— Keith Sonderling

When you contact the EEOC, you file a charge of discrimination, which opens a case against your employer. The EEOC then investigates it, and can help you settle the case or sue the employer, Sonderling said.?

“After a certain amount of time that [the EEOC has] investigated, you can then go hire your own lawyer and bring your own lawsuit. But you have to come to the EEOC first.”

— Keith Sonderling

Why Documenting Discrimination Is Essential?

The National Conference of State Legislatures lists five federal laws that address workplace discrimination: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.?

It is essential to keep a written record of any instances of discrimination to help prove your case if you have to file a lawsuit for discrimination.?

“It is important to know that one of the reasons employees do not prevail [in discrimination cases] sometimes is they did not use the employer's internal complaint mechanisms for sexual harassment or racial harassment or disability harassment, for example. Usually, the employer has an internal reporting procedure. And if an employee doesn't use that, the employee may ultimately be barred from asserting claims.

“It makes sense for employees to use the reporting recommendations in employee handbooks or company policies, just because lawsuits are not always the best way to solve problems.

Even if you do end up in a lawsuit, if you haven't followed this method, there are some claims that you will be barred against pursuing.”

— Halima Horton White

“It really helps too if you have complained in the harassment context or failure to promote context or not getting a certain benefit or wages. It helps if you have complained and notified your employer. A lot of very sophisticated companies that follow the law, if they hear an employee is being sexually harassed, they will investigate the manager, fire the manager, move the other person. If they feel like somebody has been discriminated against and not gotten the opportunity, they will work with them to show that ‘here was the reason you didn't get the promotion. It had nothing to do with your protected characteristics.’?

— Keith Sonderling

??In real life: A recent study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law showed that 45.5% of workers identifying as LGBTQ have experienced discrimination. Respondents also mentioned they were either fired from a position, never hired, or harassed due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Explore more?

• How to Handle Hair Discrimination in the Workplace and During a Job Search by Brandi Fowler for LinkedIn News
• How to Overcome Disability Discrimination in the Workplace by Timothy Mably for LinkedIn News
• How to Address Discrimination in the Workplace by Timothy Mably for LinkedIn News?
• How workplace discrimination has changed over the last generation by Kathleen Davis for Fast Company

Meet the experts?

Keith Sonderling is a commissioner at the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Before his confirmation, he served as the Acting and Deputy Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division in the U.S. Department of Labor.?

Halima Horton White is a partner at the Employment Law Solution. She is a bilingual (Spanish) employment attorney who represents and advises companies. In addition to litigation and agency representation, she provides day-to-day legal advice to clients on terminations, non-compete and non-solicitation issues, EEO issues, and wage and hour matters.?

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