Employees who have been exposed to discrimination and harassment in the workplace have substantial legal safeguards under California law. Despite this, pregnancy discrimination and punishment for speaking out against prejudice continue to be widespread. Employees who have been unlawfully dismissed are frequently aware that they should seek legal counsel as soon as possible.
Current workers, on the other hand, are frequently perplexed as to what to do. They may be apprehensive about reporting illegal behavior to Human Resources, especially if the behavior is coming from their immediate boss. What if it aggravates the situation? Indeed, Human Resources is far too often preoccupied with preserving the firm rather than taking the early corrective action that the law mandates.
The greatest chance for an employee is to be thoroughly educated about their legal rights. Keep reading to learn about the types of protections you have as a pregnant person. If you believe your rights have been violated, contact PLBH at (800) 435-7542 for a consultation.
Discrimination
The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) forbids employers from discriminating against employees who fall into a protected group (sex, pregnancy, race, religion, disability, etc.). This includes refusing to recruit or promote employees, firing them, or discriminating against them in terms of pay, benefits, or other employment terms, conditions, or privileges.
Harassment
Because of their protected position, the FEHA also forbids harassment of workers, applicants, unpaid interns, volunteers, and contractors. When a supervisor harasses an employee, the employer is held legally accountable. They are responsible for harassment by non-supervisors and even non-employees if they were aware of the behavior or should have been aware of it but did not take prompt and adequate remedial action.
Employers are required to take all reasonable measures to prevent harassment. To demonstrate harassment, an employee does not need to lose concrete employment advantages (e.g., being fired or demoted). Here’s where you can learn more about workplace harassment.
Punitive measures
An employee who has “opposed any practices prohibited” under the Act is protected by the FEHA. As a result, it is illegal for an employer to retaliate against a worker who reports or opposes pregnancy discrimination in any way. Separately, the FEHA holds an employer liable for failing to prevent retaliation. An employee does not have to be correct in their view that discrimination happened; they are protected if they had a good-faith conviction that prejudice occurred.
These are only some of the protections. If you believe you have been the victim of unlawful behavior due to your pregnancy, contact PLBH at (800) 435-7542 to learn more about your options.