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What Does The Law Say?
Where is the federal law regarding sex discrimination in employment found?Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits any discrimination in the workplace based on sex. It was amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which guarantees equal benefits to pregnant women. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 guarantees equal pay for equal work. To whom does the federal law apply?Federal law applies to public and private employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. There are a few employers who are exempt from the Act, and thus their employees are not covered under Title VII. This category includes, for example, the United States, a corporation wholly owned by the Government of the United States, an Indian tribe, or any department or agency of the District of Columbia, as well as bona fide private membership clubs (other than labor organizations). Under the federal law, what is illegal?Under federal law, an employer is prohibited from discharging any individual or otherwise discriminating against any individual with respect to her compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of her sex. What employer actions are recognized as sex or gender discrimination under federal law?Where the employer's decision was motivated by the sex of the person suffering the adverse action, Title VII recognizes the following practices as unlawful: failure to hire, failure to promote, sexual harassment, wage discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, discriminatory termination, and retaliatory termination. Discriminatory wages are also covered under the Equal Pay Act. What is an "employee" under this law?Any person employed by an employer is covered as an employee under Title VII. Public elected officials, their staff and appointed officials are not covered under federal law. What is an "employer" under this law?An employer is any person who has fifteen or more employees working twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year, or an agent of this person. For the EPA, an employer is anyone who has an employee. (In most cases, you will need at least two employees as you need someone of the opposite sex with whom you can compare your wages.) Are women a "protected class"? Yes, Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Therefore, women, as a gender classification, are considered a protected class. Is it ever okay for my employer to treat or impact women differently because of their sex? Your employer can only treat someone differently on the basis of sex if it can prove that the discrimination amounts to a bona fide occupational qualification, meaning that the qualification is substantially job-related and reasonably necessary for the operation of the business. What could my employer do to deny my allegations, and how do I respond to their denials? Your employer will likely present evidence that it had a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for its adverse action against you. You must then present further evidence that the reason presented by your employer is an attempt to hide the discrimination, or that both legitimate and illegitimate reasons for the adverse action exist. Ultimately, you must prove that sex discrimination more likely than not motivated your employer. Does it matter when the discrimination occurred?For all claims under Title VII, you must file a complaint with the EEOC within 180 days of the date of the last incident of discrimination. If your state or locality also has an anti-discrimination law that will cover your claim, your time limit to file may be extended to 300 days. You will have up to two years to file a complaint of wage discrimination under the EPA unless you can prove that your employer willfully paid women less than men, in which case you will have three years to file a complaint. Willful discrimination generally means you will need to be able to prove that your employer knew or had reason to know that it was paying wages discriminatorily, in violation of the law. What options do I have if I my employer has fewer than fifteen employees?Some state statutes allow for claims against employers with fewer than fifteen employees. If not, you may want to consider talking to your employer directly. Who enforces the law? Congress empowered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce Title VII . To contact the EEOC, see the "How to file a Claim" page or visit the EEOC's website. How do I file a claim of sex discrimination with the EEOC?How to file a claim. If I prove my sex discrimination claim, what kind of remedies am I entitled to?Remedies.
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