You may be entitled to compensation if you have been discriminated against in the workplace.
In North Carolina, federal and state laws protect employees from certain disparate treatment and unlawful discrimination.
At EMP Law, our Winston-Salem and Charlotte employment discrimination lawyers can help you initiate a legal claim against your employer if you have been mistreated.
This post examines the fundamentals of employment discrimination in North Carolina so that you can be more fully informed before taking legal action.
Call (336) 724-2828 or send an online message today to request a consultation.
What Are North Carolina’s Anti-Discrimination Laws?
When you work in NC, several federal and state laws protect you from being discriminated against in employment.
Some of the most important federal anti-discrimination laws include:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII),
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), and
- The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA).
These federal laws work alongside the many North Carolina discrimination laws, including:
- The North Carolina Equal Employment Practices Act (NCEEPA),
- The North Carolina Persons with Disabilities Protections Act (PDPA), and
- The Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA).
These laws outlaw discrimination against groups called protected classes.
What Groups Are Protected by NC Anti-Discrimination Laws?
The discrimination laws that protect employees in North Carolina prohibit disparate treatment based on membership in a protected class. In other words, discrimination laws forbid employers from treating employees differently because the employee has a certain characteristic.
Federal law prohibits discrimination based on:
- Race,
- Religion,
- Color,
- National origin,
- Sex,
- Sexual orientation,
- Gender identity,
- Pregnancy,
- Disability,
- Age,
- Citizenship status, and
- Genetic information.
North Carolina law also protects many of these groups.
In particular, similar to Title VII, the NCEEPA prohibits discrimination in private employment based on:
- Race,
- Religion,
- Color,
- National origin,
- Age,
- Sex, or
- Disability.
North Carolina has enacted additional protections for people based on their:
- Military status,
- Lawful use of products while off the clock,
- AIDS/HIV status, and
sSickle cell or hemoglobin C trait.
Employers cannot treat you worse than any other employee because you fall into one of these categories.
Who Enforces North Carolina Employment Discrimination Laws?
There are two main sources of North Carolina anti-discrimination law. The first source is found at the federal level, most of which is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The second source is North Carolina law.
Unlike many states, North Carolina does not have a state agency that handles general employment discrimination claims. Instead, the EEOC offices located in North Carolina typically administer NC discrimination law.
North Carolina state agencies handle discrimination complaints in limited circumstances. For example, if you work for the state or local government, you can file a complaint with the North Carolina Civil Rights Division’s (CRD) Employment Discrimination Section. Or, if your employer retaliates against you, you file with the Employment Discrimination Bureau of the Department of Labor.
Which Employers Are Subject to North Carolina Discrimination Laws?
Not all employers are subject to federal and state discrimination laws.
Generally, to be subject to federal and North Carolina discrimination laws, the employer must regularly employ 15 or more employees. The ADEA is an exception, requiring 20 or more employees.
Federal anti-discriminatory equal pay laws is another exception.
known as the Equal Pay Act, the statute requires that men and women be paid equally for equal work. The two jobs don’t have to be exactly identical, just substantially the same.
What Is Employment Discrimination?
Discrimination comes in many forms. Simply put, discrimination means treating someone differently or less favorably for some reason. Usually, to qualify for legal action, this treatment must affect the terms and conditions of your employment.
Actions that may affect the terms and conditions of your employment include:
Failing to provide reasonable tools to enable an employee to perform their job.
Firing or demoting someone,
Failing to hire someone,
Transferring an employee to a less desirable position,
Allowing the employee to experience harassment,
Docking pay,
Denying or taking away benefits, and
Some examples of discrimination include:
- Harassment by managers, co-workers, or others in the workplace based on your membership in a protected class of people;
- Unfair treatment, or being treated differently by your employer because of your membership in a protected class of people, such as not being offered overtime your employer offers to others;
- Denials of reasonable accommodations, which you are entitled to because of your religious affiliation or disability;
- Improperly questioning or requiring disclosure about your disability, which can be about your genetic or medical information; and
- Retaliation, which can result after you complain about discrimination in the workplace or initiate a legal claim or an administrative charge for discrimination.
These are just some of the many forms of discrimination in the workplace.
Which Aspects of Employment Are Subject to North Carolina Discrimination Laws?
Anti-discrimination laws prohibit discrimination in almost every aspect of employment. Under North Carolina anti-discrimination laws, an employer cannot utilize a prohibited practice or policy in the following areas.
Job Advertisements
It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate in job advertisements. Discriminatory job advertisements show clear preferences for one class of people over another. They can also discourage someone from applying based on their membership in a certain protected class.
Applications and Hiring
It is illegal for an employer to discriminate during the application and hiring processes. For example, it is illegal to make a hiring decision based on someone’s race, religion, sex, national origin, or age.
Job Assignments and Promotions
An employer may not make decisions about job positions, assignments, or promotions based on their membership in a certain protected class.
For instance, an employer may not give preferences to employees of a certain race or segregate the workplace. In addition, it is illegal for an employer to require employees to take aptitude tests that disfavor members of a certain race, religion, national origin, or individuals with disability.
Pay and Benefits
It is illegal for an employer to discriminate in how they pay their employees or provide benefits to their employees. Pay and benefit discrimination includes vacation time, leave, sick pay, insurance benefits, retirement benefits, and overtime pay.
Discharging or Firing
An employer cannot take someone’s race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, or disability status into consideration when firing or discharging an employee.
For example, if an employer goes through layoffs, the employer cannot choose to terminate the oldest employees first.
Who Is Prohibited from Discriminating?
Employers are generally liable for discriminatory acts by supervisors and managers acting with the authority their positions grant them. However, employers are not only responsible for supervisors and management.
An employer must protect employees from discrimination from other employees and even customers in some circumstances. Particularly, if employee or customer actions affect the terms or conditions of the job and the employer can prevent the discriminatory behavior, the employer must step in.
The employer may be liable for the conduct of people in non-supervisory roles if the employer actually knows about the discrimination. When you report discrimination to an employer, the employer generally knows about the discrimination for legal purposes.
Additionally, the employer may be liable if they should know that discrimination is occurring in the circumstances. Although reporting discrimination to an employer meets the requirement that an employer knows or should know, you do not always have to report discrimination before making a claim. Specifically, you may not have to report if it reasonably appears that reporting would be futile or subject you to increased discrimination.
How Do You Make an Employment Discrimination Claim?
If you have experienced discrimination in employment, you can file a complaint. To file a complaint, you submit a claim with the EEOC. Generally, you have 300 days to file a claim if state or local law covers the protected class you are filing based on along with federal law. If no state or local law overlaps, you have only 180 days.
After you file, the EEOC investigates your claims and decides whether it believes discrimination occurred. If it concludes your employer discriminated against you, it attempts to resolve the issues between you and your employer.
If you are satisfied with the solutions negotiated by the EEOC, that may be the end of the case. However, if you are not, you can request a right-to-sue letter—even if the EEOC concludes discrimination did not occur. In rare circumstances, the EEOC sues on your behalf. Unless it does, once you get the letter, you can personally sue your employer.
What Can You Get If You Win an Employment Discrimination Claim?
When you make a claim based on employment discrimination law in North Carolina, you have several potential remedies. Depending on the circumstances, you may be entitled to non-monetary remedies like reinstatement or placement in a position wrongly denied.
You may also recover damages to compensate you for discrimination-related harms, like:
- Backpay,
- Front pay,
- Costs of finding a new job,
- Medical bills, and
- Emotional harm.
An employer who acts particularly poorly may also have to pay punitive damages, which are designed to punish bad conduct.
Contact Our North Carolina Employment Discrimination Lawyers
At EMP Law, we have experienced employment law attorneys to help you if you have been discriminated against at work. Our firm promises to give you the zealous representation you deserve when pursuing a legal claim.
If you would like to schedule a consultation, you can reach us by phone at (336) 724-2828 or fill out our online form. In addition, we have offices conveniently located in Winston-Salem and Charlotte.
Michael provides compassionate, diligent, and creative legal services that are tailored to meet each client’s specific needs. His experience relating to clients from diverse backgrounds makes him well suited for representing his clients across a broad range of legal areas. He practices in the areas of employment law and family law, and is experienced in criminal law.
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