What constitutes gender-based discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act?

What constitutes gender-based discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act?

On Behalf of | Dec 23, 2020 | Business And Commercial Law |

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that protects individuals from discrimination due to their ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, creed or belonging to any other protected class. Employees often face repercussions from their employers when they find out that they are sexual assault, stalking and domestic violence victims. Title VII may also protect these workers from their employers taking adverse action against them upon finding this information out, though.

What types of employer actions does Title VII prohibit?

Title VII prohibits gender bias discrimination. What you may not realize is what falls into this category, though. An employer may violate the law if they fire an employee after discovering that they secured a restraining order against a partner or that they were a victim of domestic violence.

This same federal law prohibits sexual harassment and rape in the workplace. An employer that fails to investigate a worker’s allegations, reassigns or demotes an employee or fires them after reporting a colleague’s sexual harassment or assault may violate Title VII when they do so.

Domestic violence victims often have emotional or physical wounds of the trauma that they endured. Title VII requires employers to give such any workers that suffered through such treatment time off from work to receive necessary counseling. They may violate the law if they fail to do so. Any employer that fires a worker because they suffered physical scarring from domestic violence may also violate Title VII.

What you can do if you suffered gender-based discrimination in the workplace

Countless workers end up getting demoted, losing pay or fired after reporting their experiences with on-the-job, sex-based discrimination. Mississippi and federal law may both entitle you to compensation for your employer’s illegal actions if this happened to you.

An attorney will need to conduct a thorough investigation into the merits of your legal matter before advising you of the options that you may be able to pursue against your employer in your Title VII case.