State Laws
Laws are made primarily to try to protect individuals from harm and to create a fair and balanced system of government. State laws can vary depending on the legal matter at hand. Employee discrimination is against the law in any state. While independently owned businesses may be able to technically adhere to there own set of rules and state laws, they still may be subject to following state laws involving employee discrimination.
• There are many different states that have state laws called “employment at will.” Although this state law gives an employer the right to fire an employee at any time, it also makes them explain the reason for the employment termination. The employer has to have the documentation of the conduct that caused the termination as well as a valid reason for it. Knowing the state laws that govern employee discrimination is important when trying to determine if one’s termination was based on discrimination.
• Individuals must think about their own job performance when coming to a conclusion about the reasoning behind the termination. If the individual was not performing the job properly or showing up late for work, then they probably do not have grounds for a legitimate employee discrimination lawsuit under any state law. One should look for any signs that a supervisor or boss may be considering a termination. If an individual is properly performing their job, showing up on time and acting in a manner befitting the company, then they should begin to keep record of this. Having documentation that proves that the required work was accomplished may be tricky to obtain, but this could be the most important factor for proving that the employer broke the state law. Documenting incidents of possible discrimination as they occur is important.
• Both federal and state laws give some basic rights to employees. When a company is considering hiring or firing someone, they cannot take religion, race, ethnic background, gender, age or sexual orientation into consideration. It is nearly impossible to prove if an employer decides to hire one individual over another because of any of those factors. However, every employee in the United States have these human rights as stated by the United States Constitution. Some state laws refer to this as civil rights instead of human rights within their own constitution.
• When one begins to fight an employee discrimination lawsuit, an individual should consult the state laws regarding the Division of Human Rights and Labor Department. Most states have a branch and this department will help an individual when pursuing justice for their unfair employee termination. Although state laws vary, many times an attorney that specializes in discrimination will be appointed to the individual filing the complaint for free. The department also informs individuals of their state laws regarding job discrimination. An individual should decide ahead of time if they want social justice, their job back, or monetary compensation. Some may want all three.
The most important thing regarding a possible employee discrimination case is being sure as possible that the job termination was caused by discrimination. One should asses themselves honestly about their job performance and see if a bad or mediocre job performance may have been the reason for the termination instead of discrimination.
