We often hear that equal opportunity employment is the law. It’s actually a number of different laws, such as: the Oregon Fair Employment Practices Act (ORS chs. 652, 653, 659, and 659A); Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000a et. seq.); the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. § 201 et. seq.); the Equal Pay Act (29 U.S.C. § 206 et. seq.); the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. § 12101 et. seq.); the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, (29 U.S.C. § 621 et. seq.); the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (29 USCA § 621); the Civil Rights Acts of 1966, 1971, and 1991 (42 U.S.C. § 1981-1986); the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (29 USCA § 1001 et. seq.); the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) (29 USCA § 2601); and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. § 701).

Those laws are supposed to protect employees from discrimination based on race or color, sex, national origin, age, disability, religion, or pregnancy. They are supposed to ensure that employment decisions are not based on stereotypes, biases, or assumptions about the abilities, traits, or performance of individuals of a certain sex, race, age, religion, or ethnic group, or individuals with disabilities. Workers come to their jobs to earn a living, which is usually hard enough. They should not have to endure discrimination by their supervisors, managers, or co-workers in the form of denied advancement opportunities, unequal compensation for the same work, hostile work environments, retaliation, or sexual harassment.

Because people may lack a conscious awareness of their discriminatory attitudes, however, discrimination may affect many aspects of the employment relationship subtly, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, wages, benefits, work assignments, performance evaluations, training, transfer, leave, discipline, layoffs, or discharge. Even if employers are well aware of their biases, they may conceal them, making proof that unlawful actions were taken because of discrimination hard to obtain.

Oregon employment lawyer Dane E. Johnson is committed to pursuing justice aggressively for employees subjected to unlawful employment practices because of discrimination. The Law Office of Dane E. Johnson represents employees only. If you or loved ones suspect discrimination in hiring, termination, promotion, wages, pay, or through sexual harassment or a hostile work environment, we welcome your contact at (503) 975-8298 or through our contact form.