Workplace Civil Rights Lawyer and Attorney

What to Do if You’re a Victim of Civil Rights Discrimination
State regulations criminalize civil rights violations. However, these laws do not always stop discrimination. Many victims do not realize their rights were violated. Remember, you deserve a safe and professional workplace.

• If your rights are violated, take these immediate steps:

  • Record every unlawful act in your a personal notes.

  • Gather substantial evidence, including witness statements and photos.

  • File an internal complaint with your HR department.

  • Contact a trusted Los Angeles  racial discrimination lawyer.

What Do You Need to Prove Your Workplace Civil Rights Claim?

You must prove specific legal elements for a successful case. First, show that your employer or coworker violated your rights. Second, provide documents proving your work competence. Third, describe how the violation occurred. Finally, demonstrate the resulting damages.

Evidence generally falls into two categories:

1. Direct Evidence: This includes discriminatory statements in emails, memos, letters, or notes. For example, an employer might fire you specifically because of your age.  They wanted to replace you with a younger employee for cheaper pay. This is direct evidence that your class status was the cause of your unlawful termination.

2. Indirect Evidence: includes a fact or a set of facts that can be used as proof that you are discriminated against by your employer. It includes testimonies from your co-workers that they saw or heard a possible unlawful act by your employer against you. An example would be a co-worker hearing your employer by chance of cursing and bad-mouthing against you because of your race and terminating you because of it.       

Civil Rights Discrimination Victims We Can Help

Mesriani Law Group represents the people of California regardless of their social standing in various industries. For instance, in the field of employment and labor, we offer legal counsel and representation on all levels of employees who have been victims of civil rights discrimination and unlawful treatment in the workplace, wrongful termination, a class-action lawsuit, and other work-related discrimination issues. We understand that your job is your means of securing the necessities of life, and having your civil rights violated should not be the reason you quit or concede to such unlawful treatment and discrimination. Mesriani Law Group passionately fights for your right to fair treatment and equal pay ensuring the maximum compensation you deserve.

Types of Workplace Civil Rights Discrimination

Unfair practices often occur during hiring, firing, or promotion. Moreover, discrimination affects income, assignments, and training. When unfair treatment is applied to a protected class based on the qualities that define that protected class, these actions or inactions become unlawful.

• Gender: Employers cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation or stereotypes. An example would be the job post for a construction worker which usually entails hard manual labor, a woman applicant is usually discriminated against due to profiling that women are weaker than men.

• Pregnancy: Companies often unfairly view pregnant employees as if with an ailment that would affect the efficiency of workload because of pregnancy. The presumption of being frail, slow, and unproductive due to pregnancy results in less pay and possible unlawful termination. An example would be a woman employee in line for a promotion but because of being pregnant, it was given to another employee since she would soon be filing for pregnancy leave.

• Age: Discriminating against workers aged 40 or older is illegal. These employees must receive equal benefits and rights.  An example would be an applicant aged 50 years old seeking an internship with an IT company that was screened out and not given even a chance for an interview, since typically the IT industry generally attracts fast-paced young individuals.

• Disability: The ADA protects qualified individuals with disabilities. Furthermore, employers must provide reasonable accommodations.  An example would be an employee who uses a wheelchair to get around who is not provided the accommodations to move around resulting in difficulty for the employee.

• Ethnicity: This involves national origin, ancestry, or accents. Employers cannot remove candidates simply based on their heritage. An example would be an applicant who was a strong candidate for the hiring position due to his credentials but as soon as they saw his nation of origin, they immediately took him out of the applicant list.

• Religion: Laws require employers to accommodate religious customs.  An example would be a Muslim employee during the month of Ramadan who needs to pray at several intervals in a day. The employer must fairly accommodate the employee’s religious practices without any prejudice that may affect his/her employment.

Why Do Civil Rights Violations Happen in the Workplace?

Although it is general knowledge that all employees have civil rights, it is still common to have those rights violated and disregarded. Knowing your civil rights as an employee and the laws that protect your rights, is of great importance in fighting off discrimination from a hostile workplace. With this said, civil rights violations happen in the workplace because of the following reasons:

• The employer’s and employee’s ignorance of employment and labor laws
• The employer’s prejudice towards the employee’s race, age, gender, religion, and personal differences
• The employee’s apprehension in filing a complaint due to financial circumstances and the possibility of losing one’s source of income
• The employee’s cluelessness of the legal processes involved in pursuing their civil rights
• The lack of available resources for the employees to file a claim against their employers

It is still best to consult with a hostile work environment lawyer to be fully aware of your rights and which legal action to take in pursuing a case and claiming the maximum compensation for your violated civil rights.

What is the Impact of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on Employment?

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 criminalizes unlawful acts related to discrimination on ethnicity, skin color, sex, nation of origin, religion, gender, and sexual orientation in every employment condition. Thanks to this law, an employer with 15 or more employees is required to abide by the rules laid out by Title VII, which protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination, giving more chances of fair employment for individuals seeking a livelihood. According to the rules stipulated in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an employer cannot:

• Determine a decision on hiring an applicant based on his/her ethnicity, skin color, sex, nation of origin, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.
• Base a selection for promotion or termination because of a stereotypical belief on the employee’s ethnicity, skin color, sex, nation of origin, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. The selection should be based on one’s performance and qualified credentials. This ruling also extends when assigning the employee’s work tasks.
• Determine the employee’s pay, benefits, leaves, and retirement pay based on their ethnicity, skin color, sex, nation of origin, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.
• Vent out discriminating remarks, bullying, and harassment solely because of the employee’s ethnicity, skin color, sex, nation of origin, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.

These are just some of the common conditions that Title VII help protect in terms of employees’ civil rights embodied in employment and labor.

Title VII Damages for Civil Rights Discrimination Claims

If in such circumstance that an employee experienced his/her civil rights violated, in accordance with the rules stated in Title VII, the employee discriminated against may be entitled to the following:

• Reinstatement of his/her job and possible promotion
• Recovery of lost pay and other employment-related losses
• An injunctive relief (obliging the employer to change the company’s policies to stop discrimination in the workplace)
• Financial aid on lawyer fees

The employee must register a formal complaint of the violation with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) before filing a lawsuit, then the EEOC determines whether there will be a sensible agreement between the employee and the employer. If there won’t be any agreement between the two parties then the EEOC can either initiate a civil lawsuit on behalf of the employee or have the employee proceed with a “right to sue” and hire a civil rights lawyer and proceed in filing a lawsuit.

Workplace Civil Rights Discrimination Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations sets the maximum time that the parties involved in a dispute may proceed with a lawsuit based on the date of the alleged offense. And just like in any other type of case, in a civil rights violation claim, there’s a statute of limitation to follow, and as such the time limit depends on the severity of the situation and the laws that apply to it.

For instance, in a workplace discrimination claim in the state of California, the employee may only have a year from the date of the alleged violation to file an administrative complaint with the DFEH (Department of Fair Employment and Housing) or file a lawsuit. To make sure you won’t miss any statutory deadlines, it is critical to file each complaint or lawsuit in a timely manner according to what is legally set. Protect your rights and timeline with guidance from a certified and accomplished Los Angeles Civil Rights Lawyer of Mesriani Law Group.

Retaliation Against Workplace Civil Rights Discrimination Claims

The basic factors to look out for to determine if you are experiencing workplace retaliation from your employer that was prompted by a civil rights discrimination complaint:

1. Your employer is making unfavorable actions against you or treats you in a discriminatory manner creating a hostile workplace
2. Your employer is limiting your option to exercise your legal rights by setting you in a hostile workplace making it unsurpassable that you are left with no choice but to resign
3. Your employer wrongfully terminated you for participating in an investigation on discrimination or otherwise known as protected activity

Similarly, the following protected activities by the employee that should not be violated or taken to retaliation by the employer are:

• Pressing charges and filing an EEOC complaint or lawsuit
• Talking with a supervisor or HR about discrimination or unlawful acts
• Participating in an investigation against the employer’s discriminatory acts
• Declining the employer’s commands to join in an activity that would lead to harassment or discrimination
• Refusing and defending other co-workers from sexual offenses
• Requesting accommodation for a disability
• Requesting accommodation for a religious custom
• Giving a statement as a part of an investigation against discrimination in the workplace

When to Seek Help from Mesriani Law Group’s Workplace Civil Rights Lawyer

Everyone deserves equal opportunities to have decent jobs and unprejudiced treatment at work. As an employee, facing harassment and discrimination is an ordeal that would be difficult to face alone. This shouldn’t be the case since there are laws that protect your civil rights at the workplace and a reliable civil rights attorney from Mesriani Law Group to help you. We make sure that you have the fighting chance to claim the proper and maximum compensation for all your damages, pain and suffering, and other losses caused by your employer. Give us a call today to get the proper legal counsel you need for the violation of your civil rights.