subject: Employment Litigation Areas of Coverage by:Mark Dacanay [print this page] Today, the total number of employment related charges received by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is 95,402 cases and these range from race discrimination charges to violations on the equal pay act.
Whether this is caused by an increase in the number of employee rights violations or just an increase of the number of people who now know their rights does not reflect in the numbers.
Either way, employment litigation plays a big role as an avenue for people to fight for their rights to equal treatment in the workplace.
Employment Litigation covers a wide area of practice and various aspects of employee rights are considered in every employment case.
Here are some areas of employment law that are commonly violated and leads to employment litigation:
1. Employment Discrimination Litigation
There are a couple of laws that protects certain people from being discriminated upon in the workplace but mainly it is "Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964", "ADEA" and "ADA" that upholds protection of employees rights in the office.
Title VII protects workers and employees in the aspects of hiring, firing, promotion, training, benefits and other employment areas from being discriminated based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
ADEA or the Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects employees aged 40 and above in all areas of employment from being discriminated because of their age.
Finally, the ADA or Americans with Disability Act prohibits discrimination of qualified employees with disabilities, whether physical or mental.
The most common violations are:
Racial discrimination
Age discrimination
Sex/gender discrimination
Religious discrimination
Discrimination because of disability
Discrimination based on national origin
2. Sexual Harassment Claims
This refers to unwelcome sexual advances, soliciting for sexual favors, or any physical and verbal actions that are sexual in nature made by an employer, a customer or even a co-employee.
Either sex can be a victim or a harasser. A male can be a victim as much as they can be charged with sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment is not limited to the opposite sex as well. A person can be charged with sexual harassment even if the complainant is of the same gender.
During employment litigation of a sexual harassment case, the main arguments usually focus on how the complainant received the offensive conduct. The employment attorney must prove that the conduct was unwelcome and rejected by the complainant.
3. Wrongful Termination Cases
This employment litigation is related to anti-discrimination laws as for the following reasons:
A company or an employer cannot fire an employee based on race, religion, color, age, sex and other law protected aspects.
A company must also not terminate an employee as an act of retaliation because of the employee's actions against discrimination in the workplace.
A company must not terminate employees who filed for worker's compensation, employees who filed for leave or used the benefits provided for the company.
4. Employment Agreements and Contracts
Employment litigation lawyers can also help companies in drafting, reviewing and litigating employment agreements.
Employment litigation can resolve disputes in employment contract and concerns about proprietary rights and intellectual property rights.
These are only some areas of employment litigation. An individual can approach an employment lawyer if he/she feels that his/her rights in the workplace were violated. A company can consult with an employment lawyer as well, to guide them in creating policies that can avoid employment litigation.
