Employment discrimination can manifest at any stage in a working relationship. Discrimination during hiring is relatively common. Workers with visible indicators of their protected characteristics are especially vulnerable to discriminatory hiring practices.
Companies may also discriminate when they decide who they keep and who they terminate during staffing reductions. Occasionally, discrimination occurs while a worker has a job.
If they apply for a promotion or an opportunity, such as participation in a major upcoming project, the company may unfairly consider one of their protected characteristics before denying them the opportunity.
Promotion discrimination is illegal
Federal and state statutes forbidding employment discrimination do not just apply to hiring and termination decisions. Employers should not consider the protected characteristics of workers when making any decisions related to employment. A worker’s wages and opportunities for promotions should come from their tenure at the company and track record of success, not characteristics over which they have no control.
In some cases, the discrimination can be quite obvious, as the company may effectively have a glass ceiling for workers of certain backgrounds. Everyone above middle management may all belong to the same race or sex. Well-qualified workers may find themselves consistently passed over for opportunities that the company then extends to workers with less work history and fewer credentials.
Looking for patterns and documenting unfair company decisions can help workers fight back against unlawful promotion discrimination in the workplace. The insight and support of a legal professional can be valuable to frustrated employees who want to fight back after their employers deny them opportunities based on their personal characteristics rather than their overall job performance.