Labor Law Center Blog » Blog Archive » Discrimination Against Gays

Discrimination Against Gays

September 28th, 2006 Posted by Nicole

When it comes to allowing for equal workplace rights, there has been much discrimination against gays. Discrimination in the workplace, in general, is considered to be illegal in all circumstances. However, discrimination against gays in particular is not only hard to prove, but it’s punishable under the terms of the law.

Discrimination occurs in the workplace when an employer makes a decision based on an employee’s superficial characteristics, such as race, religion, sexual orientation, age or gender. Discrimination against gays occurs when an employer makes a decision based on a person’s sexual orientation. Discrimination against gays is also considered to be punishable on the state and federal levels for many states.

In 1960s, legislation known as the Civil Rights Act made it illegal for employer to discriminate against employee based on those physical characteristics mentioned above. This Act is the most famous for allowing equal opportunities to all employees. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission was then instated to help ensure that the rights of all people are guaranteed by the government. The EEOC will receive claims from employees that believe that they have been discriminated against.

All places of work are required to post labor law posters in locations that are clearly visible to all employees. These labor law posters contain an outline of information pertaining to employees’ labor law rights. Those labor law rights include things such as discrimination about gays.

In addition to providing information about the labor laws that are related to a place of work, the labor law posters also contain contact information for state and federal agencies that oversee the implementation and upkeep of those labor laws. If an employee believes that he or she is the victim of any form of discrimination, including discrimination against gays in the workplace, the employee should file a claim with the appropriate agency.