The federal government and the state of Arizona both have laws protecting you from discrimination in the workplace. Your employer cannot harass you, discriminate against you or retaliate against you if you belong to a protected class.
For instance, your employer may not use your race, gender or religion to justify not giving you a deserved promotion, bonuses or the opportunity to work on certain assignments. Your boss could be discriminating against you if you suddenly begin receiving bad reviews or are subjected to offensive comments. Working may become unbearable, and you just want some relief.
Filing a complaint may be your best option
If your employer fails to rectify the problems you have at work, then you may take your complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but you may only have a certain amount of time to do so. If you receive a “right to sue” letter from the EEOC, you may then file a lawsuit seeking compensation.
You may feel uncomfortable doing so, but this may be the only way you can achieve some justice for yourself. Your employer obviously isn’t looking out for you, so it’s up to you. In order to know for sure whether this is your best option, you may want to discuss your situation with an employment law attorney.
What remedies you can pursue
If a court rules that your employer discriminating against you in violation of the law, then you may receive monetary or non-monetary remedies such as the following:
- You could get your job back if your employer fired you or forced you out.
- You could receive that promotion you deserved.
- You could obtain the benefits of your position.
- You could receive back pay from the time you were fired, forced out or denied the promotion.
- You could get back the money you lost looking for another job, seeking medical care and other financial losses you incurred because of the discrimination.
- You may also receive compensation for the emotional harm resulting from the situation.
The court may also award punitive damages, which punishes your employer for the discrimination and the actions resulting from it. However, there are limits to the total amount of financial awards you may receive. Your particular circumstances will dictate the types of damages to which you may be entitled. In order to make this determination, you may want to make use of the legal resources available to you.