Both California and the federal government have passed laws that prohibiting discrimination on the basis of particular protected characteristics. Under state and Federal law, both private and public employers in Palm Desert can be found liable for discrimination, depending on what type of trait originally prompted the discrimination.

How Does Employment Discrimination Occur?

Employment discrimination occurs when an employer treats you wrongly because of your membership in a legally protected class. Employers can not base their evaluations of you on particular traits including religion, race, age, gender, national origin, and familial status. In order for a claim of employment discrimination to be successful, a Palm Desert, California plaintiff must show that his (or her) employer actively intended to treat him differently because of his protected status.

How can Employment Discrimination be Proven in California?

This can be proved when there is a history of the employer treating members of the class similarly, or if witnesses testify about the employer's statements which would constitute bias as understood by a reasonable person. Furthermore, employers are in clear violation of the law when they fire someone or retaliate against them because they filed a discrimination lawsuit.

Procedures for filing an employment discrimination claim are complicated, because they involve filing the claim with the corresponding agency. An attorney in Palm Desert, California can help you in filing on time, as well as pursuing other remedies that are available to you while your claim is pending.