Discrimination and Retaliation Defined and Clarified (Employment Law)
Discrimination and Retaliation are terms that are commonly misunderstood by workers and public in general. It's important to understand what these terms so that you can assess the merits of any potential claim you want to make against your present or former employer.
Unlawful workplace discrimination takes place when you are treated substantially different in terms, conditions and privileges of your employment because you are a member of protected class (age, race, disability, gender, familial status, sexual orientation) etc, and there is actual evidence that the reason you are treated differently/poorly is your being a member of one or more of those protected categories and not for some other reason, such as personality conflict and favoritism for other reasons. In other words, being treated unfairly is not against the law unless the reason you are treated badly by the employer is because you a member of protected class. Simply being black, or over 40, or gay, or a woman is not enough to prove discrimination. There must be actual evidence that the reason you are treated different is the fact that you belong to one of those categories.
Unlawful workplace retaliation takes place when you suffer adverse employment action, such as demotion or termination because you have engaged in a protected activity. Some of the common protected activities are complaining about harassment/discrimination at workplace, complaining about safety-violations, complaining about wage and hour violations, filing a claim for unpaid wages or overtime, participating in certain political activities, exercising rights under CFRA/FMLA, and a number of other specific activities. If the activity is not considered a "protected activity" under the law, than any adverse employer action that follows that activity cannot be grounds for retaliation claim. For instance, if you complain about your boss is yelling at you, or micromanaging you, or not being fair to you, or not keeping his promises to provide you with certain terms and conditions of employment, and you are terminated as a result, these facts do not make a retaliation claim, because complaining about yelling and unfairness, as opposed to discrimination, unlawful harassment, etc., are not protected activities.
It's important to remember that with regard to both discrimination and retaliation the burden of proof is on the employee-claimant. The employer generally doesn't need to show good reason for terminating an at-will employee. The employer only needs to show a subjectively legitimate reason, which is very easy to do in most cases.
Unlawful workplace discrimination takes place when you are treated substantially different in terms, conditions and privileges of your employment because you are a member of protected class (age, race, disability, gender, familial status, sexual orientation) etc, and there is actual evidence that the reason you are treated differently/poorly is your being a member of one or more of those protected categories and not for some other reason, such as personality conflict and favoritism for other reasons. In other words, being treated unfairly is not against the law unless the reason you are treated badly by the employer is because you a member of protected class. Simply being black, or over 40, or gay, or a woman is not enough to prove discrimination. There must be actual evidence that the reason you are treated different is the fact that you belong to one of those categories.
Unlawful workplace retaliation takes place when you suffer adverse employment action, such as demotion or termination because you have engaged in a protected activity. Some of the common protected activities are complaining about harassment/discrimination at workplace, complaining about safety-violations, complaining about wage and hour violations, filing a claim for unpaid wages or overtime, participating in certain political activities, exercising rights under CFRA/FMLA, and a number of other specific activities. If the activity is not considered a "protected activity" under the law, than any adverse employer action that follows that activity cannot be grounds for retaliation claim. For instance, if you complain about your boss is yelling at you, or micromanaging you, or not being fair to you, or not keeping his promises to provide you with certain terms and conditions of employment, and you are terminated as a result, these facts do not make a retaliation claim, because complaining about yelling and unfairness, as opposed to discrimination, unlawful harassment, etc., are not protected activities.
It's important to remember that with regard to both discrimination and retaliation the burden of proof is on the employee-claimant. The employer generally doesn't need to show good reason for terminating an at-will employee. The employer only needs to show a subjectively legitimate reason, which is very easy to do in most cases.