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| Discrimination and Harassment |
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What is discrimination? Discrimination at work is illegal under federal law. Discrimination is unfavorable or unfair treatment of a person or a group of people because of any of the following protected identities:
- Race
- Sex
- Color
- Religion
- National origin
- Age
- Physical or mental handicap or disability
- Sexual orientation
The law also treats sexual harassment as a form of discrimination. Discrimination can be intentional or unintentional. Moreover, an employer who punishes an employee for opposing discrimination or for participating in an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) investigation is guilty of discrimination. Further down on this page you will find details about some of these specific forms of discrimination.
Federal EEO laws prohibit an employer from discriminating in any aspect of employment, including:
- Recruitment
- Selection
- Evaluation
- Promotion
- Training
- Compensation (pay)
- Discipline
- Retention
- Working conditions
The law recognizes an employer's right to discriminate if specific age, sex, or physical requirements constitute bona fide occupational qualifications necessary to proper and efficient job performance. Small employers with fewer than 15 employees are exempt from much federal discrimination law, and age discrimination law only covers employers with 20 or more employees.
The EEOC provides an excellent web site to explain the types of discrimination and the legal actions workers and the government can take against employers who discriminate illegally. If you are a federal government employee, you should also click here for additional information.
What can you do? If you believe that you have been illegally discriminated against by an employer, labor union or employment agency, you can file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Normally, you must do this within 180 days (about six months) from the date of the alleged violation.* Generally, you cannot bring a private discrimination lawsuit until you have filed a complaint with the EEOC.
There are several ways to contact the EEOC:
- You can call the EEOC Field Office for your area. The Charlotte District Office covers all of North Carolina and South Carolina. There are field offices in Raleigh and Greensboro. To see which counties in North Carolina each of these office covers, click here. The Geenville, SC field office covers all of South Carolina. You can reach the office that covers your area at 1-800-669-4000 (TTY: 1-800-669-6820).
- If you do not work in North Carolina or South Carolina, you can be automatically connected to your nearest EEOC Field Office by calling 1-800-669-4000 (TTY: 1-800-669-6820), or click here to see a map with links to EEOC District Offices.
- You may contact EEOC Headquarters at:
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
1801 L Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20507
Phone: (202) 663-4900
TTY: (202) 663-4494
The EEOC receives more than 80,000 discrimination complaints nationwide each year. The agency ends up filing a lawsuit against the employer in less than one percent of them. Mediation is much more common and increasing with over 11,000 cases resolved by mediation in a recent year. Still, mediation can only be used if both employee and employer agree. While 84 percent of complaining workers are willing to use mediation, only 31 percent of employers agree.**
Disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a disabled person protected under discrimination laws as someone who has or had a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of their major life activities.*** To prove employment discrimination you must show that the employer took harmful action toward you (for example, did not hire or promote you) because of your disability and that with reasonable accommodations you could have performed the essential functions of the position. The decision not to hire a disabled person based on their disability is not discrimination if it makes sense based on the criteria of the job; for example, driving a school bus requires that the driver have good eyesight and not be subject to seizures.
Age
The federal Age Discrimination Employment Act prohibits discrimination against workers over the age of 40 years. For example, no worker can be forced to retire.
Sex
The federal Equal Pay Act requires employers to pay all employees equally for equal work, regardless of their gender. To claim discrimination in this case, you must show that two employees, one male and one female, are working in the same place, doing equal work, and are receiving unequal pay because of their genders. The two people's jobs do not have to be identical, but they must require equal levels of skill, effort and responsibility, and be performed under similar conditions. Unlike other types of discrimination, you can file a private lawsuit for sex discrimination in pay under the Equal Pay Act without first filing a complaint with the EEOC. Title VII of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act also prohibits sex discrimination in other aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, and promotions.
Harassment
Harassment by creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment based on race, color, national origin, religion, age, or disability is also illegal discrimination under federal law. Sexual harassment is one form of harassment; in addition to the hostile working environment element, it includes direct requests for sexual favors and requiring sex in order to receive a desired job outcome. Examples of sexual harassment include offensive or belittling jokes, display of offensive pornography, and outright sexual assault. Illegal sexual harassment also may include harassment by a female or between members of the same sex.
In North Carolina. North Carolina state law also prohibits discrimination:
- Against someone with sickle cell trait or hemoglobin C trait
- Based on genetic testing or genetic information
- For lawful use of lawful products during nonworking hours
- Against an employee who has filed a claim or complaint, initiated any inquiry, investigation, inspection, proceeding or other action, or testified or provided information to any person with respect to state anti-discriminatory laws.
*There are two exceptions to the 180 day time limit. First, you can sue privately for sex discrimination in pay without first filing an EEOC complaint; for such a lawsuit, the time limit is two years (three years for willful violations). Second, if you are a state or county employee, or if you work in South Carolina, in Orange County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, or in the City of Durham, NC, you have 300 days to file a charge with the EEOC.
**The source for these figures is a December 3, 2003 Washington Post article.
*** Protected disabilities do not include those that are correctable, sexual preference, or active alcoholism or drug abuse.
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