Marital status, like other individual freedoms, is protected under California and federal laws. Employers who suggest hiring nonmarried individuals may disrupt their workforce, or call same-sex couples ‘gross’, have committed Civil Rights Act violations. And when people’s rights are infringed upon, JML Law will be there to hold companies large or small accountable.
California anti-discrimination laws strictly prohibit employers from making hiring decisions, demoting, or blocking promotion based on one’s marital status. Provided the workplace employs more than 5 people, our Riverside marital status discrimination attorney will fight cases and demand compensation for victims of marital disparagement.
Why Marital Statuses Are Discriminated Against
It’s unclear why employers feel empowered to put down, fail to hire or seemingly halt careers of men and women based on marital status. Many believe, at least where females are concerned, marriage means they’re ‘off limits. How can employers harass female employees if they’re married? Knowing this, many employers will shove married applicants to the side in lieu of single ladies.
How, when, or why employees are married is no business of any employer. If you choose to share pictures of your spouse with coworkers, so be it. Mistreating someone solely because they’re married (or not) is ridiculous, at best.
Companies aren’t even allowed to ask marital-related questions during your interview or use marital status during performance evaluations. Employers cannot harvest information from social profiles such as marriage information, then use that information against you later.
Big Settlements from Small Details
Marital status may seem trivial when companies have much bigger issues to deal with. Employees who cherish their marriage are protected under civil law, so regardless of how menial your company treats their dismissal of you over marital information, JML Law can still recover significant compensation for pain, suffering, back pay, front pay, future pay even compensation for nonfinancial damages done.
In order for our Riverside marital status discrimination attorney to bring suit, we must prove:
- The employee in question has a legal marital status (single, widowed, etc.)
- The employee had legal rights to employment at their company and performed their job satisfactorily.
- The employee was subject to disciplinary measures, such as demotion or termination
- Other employees with identical work performances, tenure, and pay weren’t subject to disciplinary action because of their marital status.
Refusing to hire husband and wife because they’re perceived to be employed as married also violates marital status protections. (Precedent was set by Hope Int’l Univ. v. Sup. Ct.). The same holds true with same-sex couples, which are another protected class.
JML Law Fights Marital Status Discrimination
What employees do in their personal time should never be subject to scrutiny while on company time. Employers may not, under any circumstance, bother individuals or retaliate because they keep marital information private. Damages, both punitive and pecuniary, can increase substantially if employers willfully neglect their duty to treat employees fairly.
If you or someone you know is being unfairly adjudicated or was terminated for marital status reasons, call our Riverside marital status discrimination attorney today. We consult on all new cases free of charge.
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Every case is unique and needs to be evaluated by our experienced lawyers. If you find yourself in the marital status discrimination,
