Los Angeles LGBTQ Discrimination Lawyer

According to a recent study conducted by the Center for American Progress, around one-third of LGBTQ Americans have faced discrimination of some form in the past year, including three out of every five transgender Americans. More than half of LGBTQ individuals in the nation have hidden a personal relationship or altered other aspects of their lives to avoid being discriminated against.

If you are a member of the LGBTQ community, you know firsthand that discrimination can be found in all aspects of life. What we can tell you, however, is that there are certain places where you are protected from discrimination. One of those places is where you work. If you have experienced discrimination in the workplace, a Los Angeles LGBTQ Discrimination Lawyer can help.

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act serves to protect employees and prospective employees from discrimination based on their gender, gender identity, or gender expression.

California law applies protected classification to those who are among the LGBTQ community. This means their employment must be free of discrimination as members of the protected class. Physical abuse, mental abuse, harassment, bullying, refusing to hire, firing, and refusing to promote workers due to them being LGBTQ all count as LGBTQ discrimination.

Many employers provide a process for reporting LGBTQ discrimination in their policies and procedures. These can usually be found in the employee handbook. If your employer has a policy on reporting LGBTQ discrimination, then you should report the matter in accordance with their procedures as long as you feel safe doing so.

Suppose your employer does not have an established policy for dealing with these complaints. In that case, you should submit a written report to your supervisor, union representative, or human resources department—again, if you feel safe doing so. This will give your employer an opportunity to remedy the situation without any further action necessary.

Filing a report of the discrimination also provides substantial evidence if you file a discrimination claim, as it shows that your employer knew the discrimination was taking place and failed to rectify it. That being said, filing a report with your employer is not necessary to pursue a discrimination case. You can still work with a Los Angeles LGBTQ Discrimination Lawyer regardless of whether you reported the discrimination you faced.

LGBTQ discrimination includes:

• Comments, jokes, and derogatory behavior by coworkers or managers regarding one’s sexual preference
• Physical abuse in the workplace based on one’s sexual preference
• Unequal pay as a result of one’s LGBTQ status
• Failure to be hired or promoted due to one’s identification as an LGBTQ individual
• Wrongful termination based on one’s identity as an LGBTQ individual