Washington (WA) Job Discrimination Law in the Workplace

September 21st, 2006 Posted by Rachel

As a citizen you are afforded basic rights and liberties and these should be protected in the workplace as well. You should be free to seek employment or to work in an environment absent of harassment or discrimination based on personal traits or characteristics. Everyone should have equal rights and opportunities in the workplace. There are federal laws in place, which protect such rights, and many states have developed their own set of definitions and practices regarding anti-discrimination laws. Many have developed a division or agency to handle such matters. In the state of Washington, the Human Rights Commission or HRC is the agency that enforces the laws and offers guidance and information to the public and employers about what constitutes discrimination and how to comply with the law.

Washington (WA) Job Discrimination Law in the Workplace applies to employers with eight or more employees. An employer may not refuse to hire a person, discharge or bar a person from a job, discriminate in compensation or other terms or conditions of employment, print, circulate, or use any discriminatory statement, advertisement, publication, job application form, or make any inquiry in connection with prospective employment that is discriminatory. Employment agencies may not discriminate in classification or referrals for employment, print or circulate any discriminatory statement, advertisement, or publication, or use discriminatory employment application forms, or inquiries made in connection with prospective employment.

Washington (WA) Job Discrimination Law in the Workplace would consider it discriminatory if it is because of a person’s race, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, age (40+), disability, or use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. It is also against the law and would be unfair employment practice to discriminate against an individual for filing a complaint or advocating their rights under the law.

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Posted in Employment Laws, Labor and Employment, Washington

  1. Posted by: Roderick Pinkett

    I am a employee for 10 years and racial remark and the N-work, and I am black
    and they are spanish and they won,t speak english because where they from in
    there country use to it and this is USA. I talk to my mail boss about who is black
    and she told me I am the one having the problem and they disreack me on the
    job and it have to stop. So I hope I get a response.

    Thank you

  2. Posted by: Amelia

    Roderick, There are two different problems here. It’s discrimination for other employees (or anyone else) to use the N-word or make racial remarks to you at work. You should definitely complain about that. If the employer doesn’t take steps to correct it, you may need to report it to the EEOC.

    However, it’s not against any law for other employees to speak Spanish at work. Usually they don’t mean any disrespect by it — they are just more comfortable using Spanish than English.

    This is an interesting topic, and if you post a question on our sister site, http://www.laborlawtalk.com, you’ll get a lot of different opinions on it.

    Thanks for reading the blogs! Amelia

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