State Job Discrimination Laws Governing Michigan (MI)

September 14th, 2006 Posted by Rachel

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights was established in 1965 to prevent discrimination through educational programs that promote voluntary compliance with civil rights laws and investigates and resolves discrimination complaints. If you feel you have been discriminated against you would file a complaint with the department within 180 days of the alleged discrimination.

You should be aware of what constitutes discrimination according to Michigan (MI) job discrimination law in the workplace. Employers’ responsibilities to uphold and comply with these laws start with the recruitment and interview process. When advertising a position they shall not target or exclude certain individuals. During an interview an applicant may not be asked questions pertaining to their religion, their membership in a union, whether they have a disability, or other questions, which have been designed to exclude individuals on a discriminatory basis.

Michigan (MI) job discrimination law in the workplace states that it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, marital status, height, weight, arrest record, or handicap. An employer may not refuse employment, deny access to a training program, deny promotion, pay less money for equal work or terminate without just cause based on any of these characteristics.

All jobs must be open to both men and women unless the employer proves that sex is a bona fide occupational qualification. According to Michigan (MI) job discrimination law in the workplace, a woman may not be excluded legally from a job for any of the following reasons: assumption that women are unable or unwilling to do the work, preference of co-workers, employers, clients, or customers, the job has been traditionally restricted to men, the work involves heavy physical labor, manual dexterity, night hours, overtime, or work in isolated locations or unpleasant surroundings, the work involves travel, or travel with co-workers, physical facilities are not available for both sexes or that the job requires personal characteristics.

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2 Comments >> Posted in Discrimination,Employment Laws,Hostile Environment,Michigan

  1. Posted by: crystal Guerrero

    I am a 29 yr old woman working full time at a family practice office. I was laid off July 16th with a return to work date of September 13th. I have seniority over the other two workers where one worker only worked part time anyway. I was called and told not to come back to work, and to continue collecting unemployment to stay home awith my children. I love my job along with my patients since i live in a small town and have been there since July 2001! His reason for chosing to keep me perminately laid off was because I have children! I have had three children since my employment and never had ANY problems or concerns with my work performance.. which he also stated. This is discrimination! I am being treated unfairly due to me having young children and the other employees do not! what shall i do from here?

  2. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi crystal! We agree that it is illegal discrimination for the employer to terminate you or make other employment decisions based on the fact that you are a working woman with children. This is sex discrimination, since the employer would be unlikely to lay off a man simply because he had young children. You should file a discrimination complaint with the federal EEOC at http://www.eeoc.gov or the Michigan Department of Civil Rights at http://www.michigan.gov/mdcr. You must do so within 6 months. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~Amelia