The Federal government as well as the state of Washington have enacted laws which make it illegal to discriminate based on defined protected characteristics. Depending on what type of trait prompted the discriminatory treatment, government employers and even private organizations in Thurston County may be held liable under various state and federal laws.

How Does Employment Discrimination Occur?

An employer will be deemed guilty of employment discrimination if they treat an employee unfairly because they belong to a category that is legally protected. Some traits which employers are not allowed to evaluate employees with include: race, age, national origin, religion, familial status, and gender. Plaintiffs in Thurston County, Washington are required to show that their employer treated them unfairly due to their protected status in order to prevail on an employment discrimination claim.

How can Employment Discrimination be Proven in Washington?

This is shown upon finding a prior history of similar treatment of members of the same class, or upon testimony regarding the employer's statements that a reasonable person would understand to be biased. Additionally, an employer who fires someone or otherwise retaliates because of a discrimination lawsuit is in clear violation of the law.

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