NOTE FROM ROBIN: For months, I've been thinking about doing a series of posts with very basic explanations of the federal laws that govern the workplace. I think the series would be helpful to people who are new in Human Resources (or lawyers or paralegals who are new to the practice of employment law). But I also hope it will be a helpful refresher to those who've forgotten more than we'll ever know.
For my inaugural post, I'll provide a very basic overview of all of the federal anti-discrimination laws. Subsequent posts will get into these areas in more depth, and then we'll get into other areas of employment law, including retaliation and wage-hour.
Just about everybody, whether they are an employer or not, knows that it is against the law to "discriminate" against an applicant or employee. But to "discriminate" means only to "differentiate" or "distinguish."
We do that all the time, don't we? And there is nothing illegal about it. I "discriminated" last night when I decided which of the leftovers in my refrigerator I was going to reheat for my supper.
That broccoli still sitting in the fridge will never forgive me.
Even in the workplace, certain forms of "discrimination" are legal. For example, an employer can legally "discriminate" against people with insufficient job-related experience, or who don't show up for work on a regular basis, or who embezzle funds. Fair enough.
It's even ok to discriminate unfairly in some circumstances. When the boss promotes his dolt of...
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