Washington State law protects all people from discriminatory and unfair practices in the workplace. Unfortunately, many employers participate in workplace discrimination, sometimes unknowingly, against employees and job applicants.

Types Of Workplace Discrimination

The major types of discrimination that occur in Washington State include:

• Age (40 or older),
• Color,
• Disability,
• Gender identity,
• Genetic information,
• National origin,
• Pregnancy or parenthood,
• Race.
• Religion, and
• Sexual orientation.

What does discrimination in the workplace look like? Here are some examples:

• Listing preferred candidates in a job advertisement or excluding potential job applicants based on race, age, gender, etc.
• Denying compensation, benefits, or promotions to certain employees, or discrimination when conducting layoffs
• Paying different salaries to employees in the same position with similar qualifications.
• Discriminating when assigning leave for a disability, workplace injury, parental leave, or denying retirement options
• Making it difficult to use company facilities, or outright denying access

If you’ve experienced any of these situations, it’s important to contact an experienced discrimination attorney to help protect your rights.

Discrimination During The Hiring Process

Employment discrimination can also happen during the hiring process. You could potentially lose out on appropriate compensation, be denied a transfer or promotion, and more. It is illegal for employers to discriminate against job applicants based on their race, gender, pregnancy, religion, or any other part of their identity that qualifies them as part of a protected class. Additionally, employers cannot ask you certain questions or deny access to information, such as salary or benefits.

Discrimination Vs. Harassment

Harassment involves repeated unwanted behavior from a coworker, boss, client, or anyone else in the workplace and is based on discrimination against gender identity, age, race, sexual orientation, disability/health status (including pregnancy), or nationality. Harassment is also illegal and has severe consequences. It is not uncommon for workplace discrimination cases to also involve sexual harassment.

Do I Need A Workplace Discrimination Attorney?

Experiencing discrimination at work can be stressful, humiliating, and make you feel unsafe. You need an experienced and knowledgeable attorney in your corner to fight for and protect your rights.

A discrimination lawsuit doesn’t just hold the guilty party accountable—a lawyer can help you obtain compensation for the damages that discriminatory actions have caused you.

The workplace discrimination lawyers at Emery | Reddy, PLLC have built a solid reputation standing up for the rights of injured and discriminated workers all over Washington State. We’ve secured hundreds of millions of dollars in awards for our clients and litigated hundreds of cases involving federal and state law violations against employers of all sizes. Call us today for a free case review to find out how we can help.

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Workers’ Rights

As a Washington State employee, you are entitled to several protections and benefits under State and federal laws.

Document Review

A document review is a comprehensive consultation and analysis of your document’s legal language, context, and impact on your worker’s rights as an employee of Washington State.

Wrongful Termination

If you believe you are a victim of wrongful termination, you need an aggressive and experienced legal team to fight for the justice you deserve.

Meet The Team

The Seattle workplace discrimination attorneys at Emery | Reddy, PLLC are passionate about helping workers with employment law issues and L&I claims. We Help Workers®: it’s our motto and what drives us every day.

We know how companies think, and we understand the tactics they use. Our workplace discrimination attorneys use that knowledge coupled with over two decades of experience to help our clients get access to the benefits to which they are legally entitled and hold employers accountable when they break the law.

If you’re struggling with an employment law issue, injury, or L&I claim, please call us and see how Emery | Reddy can help you today.