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Labor & Employment

Workplace Discrimination

What You Need to Know About Miami Workplace Discrimination

Miami workplace discrimination laws, florida laws and the federal laws are meant to apply to millions of workers. Regardless of where you work, what you do or where you’re from, you have the right to work free from harassment or discrimination.

“Find something you love to do, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

– Harvey Mackay

Labor & Employment

What is workplace discrimination?

Workplace discrimination occurs because someone is treated differently from other employees. This different treatment may be illegal if it is because of their age, sex, religion, race or other factor.

Just because an employer has policies that are applicable to all workers doesn’t mean thats enough. They may be breaking the law if they have a negative impact on a protected class of persons. You should not have to suffer from unfair workplace policies. Specially, if they are not absolutely necessary for the operation of the business.

Labor & Employment

How do you know if you’re being discriminated?

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to tell if you are being discriminated against. Some incidents of discrimination may be obvious. However, the majority are done quietly to not attract attention.

If you believe you have been discriminated against in your workplace  speak with a Miami workplace discrimination lawyer. Our team is ready to help, if you would like a free consultation,  get in touch with us. You may be entitled to pursue compensation under federal and state laws. To understand your legal rights and how we can help you, schedule a free, no-obligation consultation just click here.

Types of Miami workplace discrimination

Workplace discrimination in Miami can happen. There are several laws both at the federal and state level that outlaw various forms of this discrimination. But even with all this, discrimination still happens today and it happens often.

Statistics

Employees experience discrimination all the time. Sometimes they find themselves in positions where they feel they can’t speak out. In 2017, there were over 84,000 workplace discrimination claims. Just to show how repressed workers are in speaking out, workplace retaliation claims topped the list of charges.

Speak out

If you are discriminated against in the workplace, it is your right to speak out. Even if your employer tries to retaliate against you for speaking out, you may be able to file a separate charge against them for the retaliation.

EEOC

The US Equal Opportunity Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was established to make sure you will be heard. Same as the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR). As an employee, the workplace discrimination laws have given you all you need to protect yourself from discrimination.

Here are some of the areas where you are protected from different or unfair treatment:

Sexual discrimination

In 2017, sexual discrimination claims make up 30.4% of claims filed. It was the fourth highest category of workplace discrimination claims. Sexual discrimination does not just involve promotions, pay, firing or hiring decision primarily on sex, it can also involve sexual harassment. According to the EEOC, sexual harassment victims received more than $46 million in compensation in 2017. If you believe that you have been subject of unfair workplace practices because of your sex, you have the right claim compensation and should contact a Miami workplace discrimination attorney immediately.

Religious discrimination

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers cannot discriminate against their employees on the grounds of religion. Employment decisions should not be made on the because of a person’s religious affiliation or beliefs. The law requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs. They can only refuse to accommodate if they cause undue hardship for the company. You should not be subject to intimidation, abuse, slurs or insult because of your religion. You are entitled to be in a safe, accommodating work environment, free from harassment.

Race, color or natural origin discrimination

The Civil Rights Act also protects your right to freedom from discrimination. It protects from unfair acts based on your race, color or natural origin. You may be discriminated on this account in many different ways. The law prevents your employer from limiting, classifying or segregating employees on the basis of race, color or origin. They cannot make classifications in a way that may deprive an employee of opportunities or adversely affect them in their work. Employers cannot structure hiring or firing practices to favor members of one race over others. They cannot use those practices to prejudice members of one race over others.

Age discrimination

A person can be discriminated against on account of age, especially when they are considered ‘too old’ for employment. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects employees over the age of 40 from discrimination in the workplace. Under the Act, employers may not refuse to hire or force an employee out of employment on account of their age. They may not offer different or adverse terms of employment to an employee solely on account of their age. They cannot also classify them in an adverse manner on that account.

Disability discrimination

The Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits employment discrimination against qualified individuals simply because of their disability. The Act prevents employers from adopting workplace practices or policies that place disabled individuals at an unfair disadvantage. It also imposes an obligation on employers to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. If you are disabled at the workplace and need some reasonable concession to help cope with your work, your employer should accommodate you. If they don’t, you may have a case for disability discrimination.

Pregnancy discrimination

In Miami, Florida law also protects workers against discrimination solely because of their pregnancy. It is illegal and unlawful to refuse to hire someone who has just given birth or who is pregnant for no other reason than their pregnancy. An employer should not demote or fire a woman solely because she is pregnant or force her to switch jobs.

important things you should know

Questions And Answers

The workplace discrimination laws do not apply to all employers. Federal law only applies to employers with 20 or more employees in their workplace. All federal law is enforced by the EEOC, meaning that you can only file a claim with the commission if your employer qualifies.

Florida anti-workplace discrimination laws set a lower benchmark however. You may be able to file a claim with the FCHR if your employer has 15 or more employees in the workplace.

You must file a claim with either the EEOC or the FCHR before you can approach the court for remedy. The two agencies have what is referred to as a ‘work-sharing agreement’. This means that they cooperate to process claims.

By reason of this arrangement, you can file a claim with either agency and both will cooperate to see that it receives attention. This way, you don’t have to file a claim with both agencies.

If you want the claim to go to both, you may simply file with either the EEOC or the FCHR and that you intend to ‘cross-file’. It may be expedient for you to file separately at each due to an existing legal debate over the administrative processes at the state and federal level.

You may either choose to file the claim by yourself or seek the services of a Miami workplace discrimination lawyer. The EEOC has launched an online service that enables you to file and check the status of your claim online. You can access the system here.

It may be best if you approach a workplace discrimination attorney to help you file your charge. A Workplace discrimination lawyers has experience in the process involved in filing these claims. They may be able to use that experience to fight for your chances of a positive outcome.

You can generally recover many potential remedies if your Miami workplace discrimination claim is successful.

Your personal injury claim will involve a number of standard steps. Here’s a brief summary of what it will entail:

Meeting your Miami personal injury lawyer:

Your journey towards compensation will typically start with a meeting in our law office. We will listen carefully to your story and advise you on what steps to take next. Once you sign a retainer agreement and allow us to help you, we will move onto the next phase.

Building your case:

We can evaluate  your case carefully, noting how we can emphasize the strengths and building strong support where it is weak. This stage will basically involve looking over every aspect of your case and every element that will bolster your claim.

Negotiations with the other party:

Our Miami personal injury lawyers can write a demand letter to the other party, laying out your case for damages. Many of our cases end at this stage due to the deep negotiating experience we bring to the table. At this point, we will usually secure a suitable settlement that will provide adequate compensation for what you have suffered.

Filing your lawsuit:

If the other party fails to offer a suitable amount or if they reject a reasonable settlement, we will file a lawsuit to get you the best compensation possible.

Discovery:

After filing the lawsuit, our Miami personal injury lawyers can aggressively go after every document that helps your case. This would include any favorable materials in possession of the other party.

Trial:

If no settlement agreement is reached, our team of Miami personal injury lawyers is ready to fight fort you. You will need attorneys that care to ensure your case will be decided by a judge and a jury with the best representation possible.

In Miami, the personal injury limitations laws dictate that you must file your lawsuit within four years. This time may start to run from the date that you incurred the injury.

This is only the general. In other cases like medical malpractice claims, you may have only two years to file a claim. Every case and situation is different, but time is of the essence. You need to be proactive about your case and decide early how you want to proceed. It is important to consult with a Miami personal injury lawyer immediately to determine any limits you may have.

 

Sometimes personal injury lawyers may charge by the hour. This means that the overall amount you will pay as lawyer fees will be calculated based on how many hours they spend working on your case. This may result in a disadvantage, because you may not have the money to pay up front and, quite sincerely, personal injury cases can drag on for a while. It is sometimes better to work with contingency fee based attorneys like us.

Contingency

At PereGonza The Attorneys, we don’t charge any hourly rates or up-front fees. Instead, we work on a contingency fee basis. This means that we will not collect a cent from you unless we win your case.

This arrangement will allow you access to quality representation and level the playing field between you and the corporation or insurance company on the other side. If we win the case for you, we will only take a reasonable fee from the recovery amount.

If you or your loved ones have been injured by the actions of another, get in touch with us for a free, no-obligation consultation. Call us today to schedule your free case evaluations (786) 650-0202.

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