It’s illegal for any employer to discriminate against you based on your gender or sex in California, so if you’ve faced this kind of discrimination, you need to take a stand. The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 combined with the California Fair Employment and Housing Act expressly prohibits the act of discrimination based on your sex, ethnicity, age, religion or other factors.
What you may not realize is that discrimination cases cover everything from the hiring process to termination. If you’re passed over for a promotion due to your gender or aren’t compensated fairly due to your sexual preferences, you could have a case against your employer.
Your sex, according to the California Government Code 12926 is the gender you are. Your gender, however, means your gender identity as well as your gender expression. This, of course, covers the spectrum including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Gender expression is part of the code to expressly prohibit the discrimination of a person based on their gender-related appearance and behavior, even if it doesn’t match their gender as assigned at birth.
If you file a charge for discrimination, it’s also illegal for your employer to retaliate against you. Retaliation, along with wrongful termination, opens up your employer to further liability in the long run. With 25,000 charges of sex-based discrimination each year being reported to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it’s not unlikely that you have come into contact with discrimination in the workplace.
If you’re a victim, you don’t have to stand by and be mistreated. Learn more about your rights on our discrimination webpage, so you can know exactly what to expect if you choose to pursue charges.
Source: Rutten Law Firm, “Fight Back Against Gender Discrimination” Sep. 04, 2014