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Employees in El Segundo deserve fair treatment, equal opportunity, and workplaces free from bias. When those principles are violated, discrimination attorneys play a crucial role in helping workers understand their rights and navigate the legal process. At our law group, we help employees pursue justice through negotiation, administrative litigation, or civil claims when necessary. With strong protections under both federal and California law, employees have multiple avenues to hold employers accountable.
This page outlines the most common forms of workplace discrimination, how they appear in modern workplaces, and when to seek guidance from an employment lawyer. Whether you’ve experienced subtle unfair treatment or a clear act of bias, understanding your legal options is the first step toward restoring fairness.
Understanding Your Rights: Employment Protections in California
California provides some of the strongest workplace protections in the country. Under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), employers are prohibited from making job decisions based on protected characteristics. When this happens, employment attorneys can help employees identify violations and determine the appropriate course of action.
Unfair treatment may involve adverse hiring decisions, denial of promotions, reduced hours, unequal pay, or even wrongful termination. Although some acts of discrimination are blatant, many are subtle, involving patterns of bias or differential treatment that become clearer over time.
If you experience unequal treatment tied to a protected characteristic, speaking with an employment lawyer can help you determine whether you have grounds for a formal complaint, administrative filing, or litigation.
Employment Discrimination: What It Means
Employment discrimination occurs when an employer makes decisions based on personal characteristics unrelated to performance, ability, or qualifications. These traits are protected by state and federal employment law, including:
The process for resolving a discrimination issue can involve internal reports, agency filings, or civil litigation. A skilled attorney evaluates the situation, collects evidence, and helps you understand whether the conduct amounted to a violation of employment law.
Workers over 40 continue to face harmful myths about productivity, adaptability, or labor cost. Employers may try to mask age bias by citing “restructuring,” “performance concerns,” or other pretexts. An experienced employment lawyer can help determine whether the explanation given aligns with actual performance records or if age played an improper role.
When age bias impacts wages, promotions, evaluations, or termination decisions, employees have the right to pursue action through the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or civil court.
Learn More about El Segundo Age Discrimination >>
Under both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and FEHA, employees with physical or mental conditions have the right to equal treatment and reasonable accommodations. These accommodations can include modified schedules, assistive devices, reassigned duties, remote work arrangements, or changes to the work environment.
Employers must engage in a meaningful interactive process regarding the accommodations needed. When they fail to do so or retaliate against workers for requesting accommodation, they may violate both state and federal law. Our law group has seen many situations where simple adjustments would have enabled an employee to perform their job effectively, but the employer chose not to comply.
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Inequities related to gender identity, gender expression, or sex continue to appear in workplaces throughout El Segundo. These may include unequal pay, exclusion from leadership roles, unfair evaluations, or biased work assignments.
California’s Equal Pay Act requires employers to provide equal pay for “substantially similar work,” regardless of gender. When inequalities persist, attorneys help workers examine pay data, job duties, and comparative roles to determine whether a legal violation has occurred.
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California’s CROWN Act prohibits discrimination based on natural hairstyles associated with race. El Segundo employees have the right to wear braids, twists, locks, afros, and other protective styles without facing penalties or pressure to chemically alter their hair.
Workers who experience adverse treatment rooted in hairstyle discrimination may have grounds for a claim, and discrimination attorneys can help guide the process.
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Discrimination can occur long before an employee is hired. Biased hiring practices-based on protected traits-can violate both state and federal employment law. When individuals suspect they were passed over due to a protected characteristic, attorneys can help assess available evidence, application records, and interview details to determine whether a formal complaint or litigation is appropriate.
Learn More about El Segundo Hiring Discrimination >>
California law prohibits adverse treatment based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Bias can occur through misgendering, exclusion from opportunities, denial of benefits, or inappropriate comments.
Our attorneys assist workers in documenting patterns of mistreatment and preparing claims when an employer fails to uphold required protections.
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El Segundo pregnancy discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee differently because they are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or have recently given birth. This can include denial of a promotion of job opportunity due to pregnancy-related concerns, being pressured to take leave before it is medically necessary, unwanted questions from your boss about your pregnancy plans or childcare arrangements, unreasonable work restrictions, or termination or demotion based on your pregnancy.
California law protects El Segundo employees from discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. This includes the right to reasonable accommodations to help you perform your job safely while pregnant, such as modified break schedules or temporary changes in duties. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, prohibits sex discrimination, including pregnancy discrimination. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) prohibits discrimination in all aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, pay and other employment benefits.
Pregnancy discrimination can be a complex legal issue. A qualified El Segundo workplace discrimination lawyer can be your advocate.
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Racial or ethnic bias-whether subtle or overt-can impact evaluations, promotions, client assignments, and morale. Workers may experience microaggressions, derogatory remarks, stereotyping, or unequal discipline.
Employees may also face bias based on language, accent, cultural practices, or birthplace. If these actions affect workplace opportunities, an attorney can help you evaluate whether your rights were violated and whether the conduct rises to the level of a discrimination case.
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El Segundo employers must provide reasonable accommodations for religious practices unless doing so creates undue hardship to their business. Accommodations may include schedule changes, dress or grooming modifications, or permitting brief periods for prayer.
Employees who experience retaliation, are denied accommodations, or are mocked based on their religious practices may have grounds to pursue a formal complaint. Our law group helps workers understand these rights and take appropriate action.
More than one in four El Segundo transgender people have lost a job due to bias, and more than three-fourths have experienced some form of workplace discrimination. Refusal to hire, privacy violations, harassment, and even physical and sexual violence on the job are common occurrences, and are experienced at even higher rates by transgender people of color. Many people report changing jobs to avoid discrimination or the risk of discrimination.
This transgender employment discrimination is illegal in California. California law protects employees from discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression. This means transgender employees have the right to be treated with dignity and respect at work, and to be judged based on their skills and qualifications, not their gender identity. A qualified workplace discrimination lawyer can help assess the details of your situation and determine if you have a valid El Segundo discrimination claim based on your gender identity.
Learn More about El Segundo Transgender Discrimination >>
Discrimination against those that are overweight may lead to a lawsuit based on disability discrimination or weight discrimination. The rights of those covered under this law also qualify under additional laws for equality and fair employment in California and other states. Termination of employment based on weight bias is illegal.
Workplaces are required to make reasonable accommodations for those that necessitate assistance with the usual work duties due to an actual disability, perception of a disability or history of a disability. Making such accommodations may avoid potential lawsuits, as well as by avoiding discrimination based on a person’s disability.
Learn More about El Segundo Weight Discrimination >>
Recognizing discrimination is only the first step. Employees should document incidents, review internal reporting procedures, and seek guidance when something feels wrong. Our law group helps workers understand their options-from filing discrimination claims with agencies to pursuing civil remedies when necessary.
If you’ve faced unfair treatment, unequal opportunity, or actions that violate protected rights, our attorneys can help evaluate your situation and determine your next steps.
Our Practices are Guided by Integrity. We’ll protect what you deserve.
We work tirelessly and fight tenaciously to hold rights abusers accountable.
If you’ve experienced a distressing incident related to an issue like this, call us for a free case evaluation.
Legal cases can be lengthy, complicated, and confusing. We understand how difficult it is for an individual to navigate the California courts and legal system to redress violations faced at work. That’s why our experienced El Segundo workplace discrimination lawyers will be your partners so you don’t have to take on the system all by yourself. We take the time to understand your predicament, do the legwork to investigate your employer, gather all the necessary information, and advocate for you tirelessly.
If you believe someone has violated your individual rights or the rights of a group of people in your community, we can help you find the right course of action. Our team of El Segundo workplace discrimination lawyers will help you understand your rights and take action. At Matern Law Group, we believe in neighbors helping neighbors. Let us put our legal knowledge and experience to work on your behalf.
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