Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, Wrongful Termination, and Other Employment Law Claims

Federal Laws Prohibiting Discrimination

The primary federal law prohibiting discrimination is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin across all kinds of employment decisions (including hiring, firing, compensation, assignment, transfer, promotion, demotion, discipline, layoff, recruitment, training, fringe benefits, pay, access to overtime or other compensation, retirement plans, access to leave, work assignments, and other decisions impacting privileges, terms, and conditions of work). Discrimination also includes severe or pervasive harassment and hostile work environments.

Title VII applies to private-sector employers with 15 or more employees, to state and local governments with 15 or more employees, in situations when the federal government is the employer, and to unions and employment agencies. Title VII protects all employees, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, in every state and in the District of Columbia.

Other federal laws prohibit different types of job discrimination, including the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40+ years of age from discrimination in the workplace, and Titles I and V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibits employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector and in state and local governments. Title VII and other federal laws pertaining to discrimination are enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Pennsylvania State Law Prohibiting Discrimination

Like its federal counterparts, Pennsylvania’s anti-discrimination law, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA), makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate on the basis of sex, race, religion, age, national origin, and disability. Pennsylvania’s law is even broader than federal law, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of: (1) having a GED rather than a high school diploma; (2) handicap; (3) relationship to a person with a disability; and (4) use of a guide or support animal. Additional kinds of discrimination may be prohibited in health care employment settings.

Pennsylvania’s law also covers smaller employers not covered by federal law. While federal law only applies to private employers with 15 or more employees, the PHRA covers both private workplaces that have between 4 and 14 employees and those with 15 or more workers.

Pennsylvania’s anti-discrimination laws are enforced and violations are investigated by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), which maintains regional offices in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh that service each county in the Commonwealth.

Harassment and Hostile Work Environments

Every employee should enjoy a work environment that is safe, supportive, and free from harassment, humiliation, bullying, and discrimination.  To that end, state and federal laws protect employees from harassment, which is a kind of discrimination that violates Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA, and the PHRA.  Harassment is any unwelcome conduct (whether by a victim’s supervisor, co-worker, or even a non-employee present at the workplace) based on a person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and sexual orientation), national origin, advanced age, disability, or genetic information (including family medical history).  Harassment violates state and federal law when it is so severe and so pervasive as to create a work environment that any reasonable person in the victim’s shoes would view as abusive, intimidating, offensive, or hostile.

Examples of conduct that may create a hostile work environment include:

• Offensive comments, jokes, and pranks
• Derogatory or offensive language
• Slurs, epithets, or name calling
• Physical assaults or threats
• Unwanted sexual advances
• Humiliation
• Intimidation
• Micromanagement
• Mockery or ridicule
• Insults or put-downs
• Threats of discipline/termination
• Unfounded performance criticism
• Displaying offensive objects, pictures, or videos
• Re-assignment to a less desirable job or task
• Transfer to a less desirable work location
• Exclusion or ostracization from peers
• Interference with work performance

Anti-discrimination laws like Title VII and the PHRA also prohibit harassment or discrimination in retaliation for filing a discrimination charge or complaint and for testifying or participating in an investigation into discrimination or harassment or any lawsuit or proceeding arising from it.

An employer who is rude, unpleasant, harsh in criticism, or even mean does not necessarily violate the law.  Petty or insignificant slights, annoying behavior, and isolated or rare incidents (unless the incident is extremely serious) generally are not violations of Title VII, the ADA, ADEA, or PHRA.  An employer who bullies or yells at staff does not necessarily violate the law.  The key question, legally, is whether the employer’s behavior is so severe that it interferes with employees’ ability to do their job and complete work duties.  It can be hard for employees to decide if what they are experiencing is just a bad or toxic workplace or if it rises to the level of a hostile work environment.  Call the Almonti Law Group for help evaluating your situation and your rights.

Wrongful Termination

Because Pennsylvania is an “at-will” employment state, an employer generally doesn’t need a good reason (or any reason at all) to terminate employees.  That said, termination can never be unlawful.  An employer may commit unlawful, wrongful termination if they terminate:

• In breach of an employment contract
• In violation of the terms of a union contract
• As retaliation for reporting discrimination or harassment or whistle-blowing
• Based on an employee’s protected class (race, age, sex, religion, disability, genetics)
• Because an employee is pregnant, on maternity leave, injured, or sustains a disability
• Because an employee made a request for reasonable accommodations under the ADA
• For taking leave they are entitled to under, e.g., the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• For missing work for military leave or jury duty

If you think you’ve been wrongfully terminated, and need help deciding if the reason you were fired violates the law (and was more than just the result of poor performance, nepotism, or even basic dislike), contact the attorneys at the Almonti Law Group.  We’ll work with you to understand your claim, gather the facts about your termination, and pursue the justice you deserve.

Filing a Discrimination Claim in Pennsylvania

Before a Pennsylvania resident can file suit with a court for discrimination, they must first pursue and exhaust their administrative remedies.  “Exhausting administrative remedies” requires a person, before they file suit in court, to first file a claim with either the PHRC or the EEOC.

Because Pennsylvania law applies to smaller employers not covered by law, you should file with the PHRC if your workplace has between 4 and 14 employees.  If your workplace has 15 or more employees, you can choose to file with either the EEOC or the PHRC, so long as your legal claim is based on a category of discrimination that is recognized by both state and federal law.  (If your claim is based on a category recognized only by Pennsylvania state law, you’ll file with the PHRC.)  Because the EEOC and PHRC have a “work-sharing” arrangement and cooperate with each other to process Pennsylvania residents’ claims, you can cross-file a claim filed in one agency with the other.  Doing so protects your right to pursue your claims in state and federal court.

Importantly, different deadlines apply before each agency.  Generally speaking, a claim must be filed with the PHRC within 180 days of the last act of discrimination, harassment, or hostility, or from the date of the wrongful employment action (i.e., termination, denial of promotion, etc.).  If your claim involves discrimination covered by a state or local law enforced by a state or local agency, you must file with the EEOC within 300 days of the last act of discrimination.  (If your claim involves only federal law violations, a claim with the EEOC must be filed in 180 days.)

The Almonti Law Group counsels clients as they file claims with the appropriate government agencies and then, if not resolved with those agencies, as they file lawsuits seeking justice and compensation from their employers.  If you’ve been the victim of workplace discrimination or harassment, call us.  Our team will treat your case with the urgency and sensitivity it deserves.