The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani:
Los Angeles Employment attorneys serving all of California
If you’ve been pushed out of your job, passed over for a promotion, or treated differently because of who you are or what you believe in, you may be a victim of workplace discrimination. However, in California, there are laws that protect you. If you believe you’ve been affected by workplace discrimination, it can be a difficult situation to navigate. Working with a workplace discrimination attorney from The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani can give you peace of mind and result in fair outcomes. Learn more about workplace discrimination and your rights as an employee.
What Is Workplace Discrimination?
Workplace discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee or job applicant unfavorably because of a characteristic protected by law. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report revealed that three in four people in the U.S. report that they have experienced discrimination due to an aspect of their racial, gender, political, or income background.
At work, this unequal treatment shows up at every stage of employment — during the hiring process, in performance reviews, in decisions about pay, promotions, job assignments, or discipline, and ultimately, in termination decisions.
The problem with this kind of discrimination is that it’s subtle, like a qualified worker who never gets a callback, a long-tenured employee who keeps getting overlooked for advancement, or a worker who suddenly faces heightened scrutiny after requesting a reasonable accommodation for a disability. Either way, it’s illegal and needs to be taken seriously.
Types of Discrimination
There are five major types of workplace discrimination.
Racial and National Origin Discrimination
Treating an employee differently because of their race, ethnicity, skin color, or national origin is prohibited under both California and federal law. Racial discrimination includes discriminatory hiring, racially hostile work environments, unequal pay, and terminations motivated by racial bias.
California’s workforce is one of the most diverse in the world, so race and national origin discrimination remain among the most commonly reported complaints filed with civil rights agencies.
Gender and Sex Discrimination
Gender discrimination covers unequal treatment of workers based on sex, gender identity, and gender expression. This includes pay disparities between different genders doing the same work, being denied promotions because of gender, and pregnancy discrimination. Since 2018, sexual orientation discrimination against people who identify as LGBTQ has been a heated and debated topic in US law and the media.
Age Discrimination
Age discrimination often occurs during layoffs that target older, higher-paid employees and during hiring decisions that favor younger candidates without legitimate justification. Under the United States Age Discrimination in Employment Act and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, workers 40 and older are protected against age discrimination.
Religious Discrimination
Religious discrimination involves treating a person (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of their religious beliefs. The law protects not only people who belong to traditional, organized religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, but also others who have sincerely held religious, ethical, or moral beliefs.
Disability Discrimination
California has some of the nation’s strongest disability protections, designed to protect workers with mental or physical disabilities from workplace discrimination. This kind of discrimination usually deals with refusing to accommodate a disability in the workplace or demoting or firing someone because of a medical condition.
California Employment Laws That Protect You
When discrimination occurs, workers are protected by discrimination in the workplace laws, such as California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), which covers racial, gender, age, and disability discrimination. FEHA applies to employers with five or more employees and is strongly enforced by the California Civil Rights Department. At the federal level, there is also the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans With Disabilities Act.
One important point of information concerns retaliation against an employee who reports workplace discrimination or files a complaint. In California, under FEHA, if an employer demotes, suspends, or fires you after you raised a discrimination issue, that in itself can be used to support your legal claim.
How To Prove Discrimination
Proving discrimination requires building a case with different types of evidence. This includes:
- Direct evidence: This includes emails, notes, messages, or recorded statements that reveal discriminatory intent by the employer.
- Comparative evidence: You need to show that other employees outside of your protected situation were handled more fairly.
- Witness testimonies: These include statements from coworkers who may have witnessed workplace discrimination.
- Timed evidence: This involves showing changes in treatment toward a worker following a protected event, such as a leave of absence or a complaint.
Building evidence is tough without resources, which is why it’s important to contact a discrimination lawyer as soon as possible. The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani are experienced in thoroughly investigating workplace discrimination claims.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
Victims of workplace discrimination in California may be entitled to different kinds of compensation, including:
- Emotional distress: You may be entitled to compensation for the psychological harm, anxiety, humiliation, and loss of enjoyment of life caused by the discrimination.
- Lost wages and future pay: This involves receiving back pay for earnings lost due to discrimination, as well as future pay.
- Legal fees: California law allows prevailing plaintiffs in discrimination cases to recover their legal fees.
- Punitive damages: In significant cases where the discrimination was motivated by cruel intent, courts may award greater compensation to punish the employer and deter future discrimination.
What To Do If You’ve Been Discriminated Against
If you believe that you’ve been discriminated against, there are some steps to consider when deciding to sue and build your case:
- Step one: Document everything, including emails, dates, times, locations, performance reviews, witness names, etc.
- Step two: Refer to the employer’s contract or the company’s values to check if workplace discrimination is mentioned. If it is, document it.
- Step three: File a complaint with your internal HR team and keep a copy of everything you submit.
- Step four: Contact The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani and do not sign anything without a legal counsel present. Often, companies may offer severance pay or a settlement that does not take your rights into consideration.
Contact the Workplace Discrimination Lawyers at Jacob Emrani Today
Workplace discrimination is common and can be psychologically damaging. You need a lawyer who understands this and will fight for your rights and secure fair compensation for your situation. Contact The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani today if you believe you’ve been a victim of workplace discrimination.