Employment Law Issues - Workplace Discrimination and Sex Discrimination Harassment

Workplace discrimination can come in many forms. In today's employment law blog I will be discussing sex discrimination harassment. This type of discrimination is different from sexual harassment. For a sexual harassment suit you must show that there are advances of a sexual nature and that those advances are unwanted. Sex discrimination harassment can include sexual harassment but does not have to in order to file suit.

In Employment Law terms, sex discrimination harassment occurs when a hostile work environment is created. For example, if you are a female and your boss or co-worker regularly makes offensive remarks about your gender, women in general, your particular female characteristics or about organizations that are primarily female organizations so frequently or severe that your place of work becomes noxious, you may have a basis to file a suit. Also, an office policy that applies to both genders can cause discrimination if it has a negative impact on one sex and it is not necessary for the operation of the business. The harassment, however, cannot be isolated or infrequent and cannot be simple teasing.

Of course, sex discrimination harassment does not only protect women. It protects men as well. It also applies whether the harasser is male or female and whether the harassment comes from a supervisor, a co-worker, or even a client of the company.

Employment law remedies for sex discrimination harassment are in place to put the employee back in a position they would have been had the discrimination not occurred. This could be reinstatement, raise or promotion. But it doesn't necessarily stop there. Remedies may also include compensatory or punitive damages. Compensatory damages may be awarded for out of pocket expenses such as those incurred looking for a new job or to compensate for emotional distress caused by the discrimination. Punitive damages are awarded when the employer has been especially malicious in their treatment of the employee.

There are caps placed upon compensatory and punitive damages based upon the number of employees in the company and those are as follows:

* For employers with 15-100 employees, the limit is $50,000.
* For employers with 101-200 employees, the limit is $100,000.
* For employers with 201-500 employees, the limit is $200,000.
* For employers with more than 500 employees, the limit is $300,000.

High Risk Application or Interview Questions

Because of the condition of the economy there aren't a lot of jobs out there. This translates into more law suits based on discrimination. More people will file discrimination law suits or file complaints alleging that they weren't hired because of discrimination. Employers, it is important to remember that you can violate Anti-Discrimination laws before you ever hire an employee.

In 1981 the EEOC determined that there was such a thing as "pre-employment discrimination". It determined that there were "high risk" questions that employers should never ask, unless of course the question is related to business necessity. And if the question is related to business necessity, you better make darn certain that there is no reasonable accommodation that you can make and that it is critical to the functioning of your business.

Here's the high risk list:

Never ask:
A person's height and weight
If a woman is pregant
A person's marital status
The number of children a person has
Child care arrangements
Primary language or proficiency in English
Educational limits, obviously unless it is critical to the job
Arrest or conviction records
Type of discharge from military service
Age
Citizenship
Economic status
Availability for weekends or holidays (you might meet religious discrimination)

And it is also a good idea not to ask employment candidates to list injuries, handicaps or disabilities.