New Laws May Expand Discrimination Protection
As of January 1, 2016, new laws will take effect that will protect those who file a request for accommodation from retaliation by employers or property owners, according to recent reports. The Fair Employment and Housing Act or FEHA will now contain language that the filing of a request for accommodation for disability or religious reasons will be considered a “protected activity.”
Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 987 into law on July 16. This bill amends the FEHA language to prohibit employers from retaliating against a person for requesting an accommodation, regardless of whether the accommodation request was granted. The bill became the topic of much debate after the California Court of Appeals decided that an employee was not automatically protected when requesting an accommodation in the case of Rope v. Auto-Chlor System of Washington, Inc. Because the courts upheld that the wording of the law did not provide protecting for those who merely requested an accommodation, the bill was written to change that wording and provide support for employees in those cases.
Workplace Discrimination: A Hard Case To Prove
It can be difficult to prove workplace discrimination. In many cases, employers who want to get rid of an employee who is, in their opinion, a liability may use loopholes in the law to terminate them without consequence. However, California law does provide protection for those who are discriminated against for arbitrary reasons.
In order to prove discrimination, however, the employee must be able to show that the employer deliberately took action against him or her that was in violation of the law. California is an at-will employment state, so absent proof that an employer discriminated against an employee, the employer can often fire the employee at will.
A personal injury attorney like Dan Gilleon of San Diego may be able to help you recover compensation when you believe you have been discriminated against in the workplace. If you have been disciplined, demoted or fired or if someone refuses to hire you for arbitrary reasons such as race, color, creed, religion, national origin, handicap that does not affect your job performance or gender identification, contact Dan Gilleon immediately for an evaluation of your case. This experienced San Diego personal injury attorney may be able to help you recover compensation through a discrimination lawsuit to pay for the damage that has been caused to you by the employer.
