Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides protection to members of certain protected classes from employment discrimination.  Those protected classes are based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.  Employers who are covered under Title VII cannot discriminate against prospective and current employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. 

 

Covered employers include private employers with 15 or more employees, the federal government, state and local governments, and labor organizations.  Employers cannot discriminate against employees in all areas of employments including hiring, firing, compensation and benefits, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training and time off.  Discriminatory treatment includes harassing people in a protected class.  Harassing acts include slurs, offensive jokes, offensive remarks based on a protected characteristic, threats, intimidation or other conduct that depicts members in a protected class in an unfavorable manner. 

 

In addition to prohibiting discriminatory conduct, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who have asserted their rights under Title Vii by complaining about discrimination or by filing a charge with the EEOC. 

 

Employees who have been discriminated against or retaliated against may be entitled to equitable relief, such as reinstatement to a job.  In addition, employees may be entitled to actual damages including back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages.  If an employee wins in a lawsuit alleging discrimination or retaliation under Title VII, he is also entitled to recover his attorney’s fees. 

 

 

This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Employment Discrimination. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.