Los Angeles Gender/Sex Discrimination Law Firm: Contact Us For A Free Consultation
California’s Fair Housing and Employment Act (FEHA) makes it illegal to refuse to hire, refuse to select a person for a training program leading to employment, or to fire/terminate a person from employment or from a training program leading to employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, or demote them, because of a person’s gender/sex. This applies to issues of your biological sex (e.g., male/female) as well as your choice of gender identity (man/woman/transgender etc). The California Constitution also protects employees from sex discrimination.
Employees in California are also protected by the Fair Pay Act. This prohibits employers from paying one sex less than the other based on sex/gender who perform “substantially similar” work. This applies to salary, OT, bonuses, vacation benefits, and other types of benefits. Similarly, California Code Section 1197.5(a) mandates that “an employer shall not pay any of its employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex for substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, and performed under similar working conditions.” Again, California is fighting to ensure that for employees that have very similar jobs, they are not paid different rates based on sex.
Federal law also offers protections. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Title VII also prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. The Equal Pay Act prevents employers from paying lower wages based on sex, to prevent the common practice of paying women lower wages than men. These laws are not as broad as the state laws that protect employees.
See also our Sexual Harassment section, discussing another type of gender/sex protection.
Examples of Gender/Sex Discrimination
- Paying a woman less than a man because she is a woman, or vice versa
- Firing an employee because they are a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT)
- Refusing to hire someone because they are LGBT
- Harassing an employee based of their gender/sex or being LGBT
- Failure to protect employees from a hostile work environment based on gender/sex
Retaliation and Harassment
Not only is it illegal to discriminate against an employee because of their gender/sex, but it is also illegal to harass someone as a result of their gender/sex. Moreover, it is also illegal to retaliate against an employee who complains about such discrimination and/or harassment.
Potentially Recoverable Damages
There are a variety of remedies for victims of gender/sex discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation, which include but are not limited to:
- Back pay (lost wages)
- Front Pay (money for lost future earnings)
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Injunctive relief
- Emotional distress damages
- Punitive damages
- Attorneys’ fees and costs
Call A Los Angeles Gender/Sex Discrimination Employment Lawyer at Wagner Legal Group, P.C. For A Free Consultation
If you think that you have been discriminated against, harassed, or were terminated because of your gender/sex, or retaliated against for complaints of illegal gender/sex discrimination, contact the Wagner Legal Group for a free consultation or call (310) 857-5293.