Sexual Orientation Discrimination.
We all know that employment discrimination is illegal. If a person is mistreated or harassed because of his or her race, nationality, sex, age, color, national origin, religion or disability by an employer, it is against the law. Unfortunately, there is no federal law that specifically outlaws workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by private employers (Federal government workers are protected from such discrimination). So, although Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not explicitly include sexual orientation or gender identity, the EEOC (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and courts have said that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on an applicant or employee’s gender identity or sexual orientation. The reason is that sexual orientation discrimination necessarily involves gender-based stereotypes of how men and women should interact and with whom they should be in romantic relationships.
So here are a few examples of what can be considered as harassment at a workplace based on sexual orientation:
- Firing an employee who is planning or has made a gender transition from female to male or male to female.
- Failing to hire a person because he or she is a transgender.
- Denying a promotion for an employee because he is gay.
- Bullying or teasing a person because of his or her sexual orientation.
Employer may not mistreat his employees, if:
- A female worker dates women instead of men or a male employee wants to create a family with his boyfriend.
- A woman does not wear any make-up, dress and behave in a mannish way.
- Respectively, a man is dressed ladylike, prefers to spend after work hours with hobbies that are usually associated with women.
Many workplaces, and even a number of states, have policies and laws against sexual orientation discrimination. An MKO lawyer will help you to figure out your way to get protection that you deserve. Contact an employment lawyer now for a free consultation.
