Every type of workplace, be it a factory or an office, a large corporation or a small startup, has the potential to face challenges when it comes to gender discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination and sexual harassment. There are a variety of state and federal laws in place to protect employees from these kinds of negative treatment. While these regulations vary by state to some extent, there are major federal guidelines that everyone in the workplace should be aware of. Those in human resources or management especially should be informed about this type of differential treatment, as they may be called on to deal with cases of sexual orientation discrimination. Here are the basics of sexual orientation discrimination policies and how they integrate into a healthy professional environment for many different kinds of workers.
What Is Sexual Orientation Discrimination?
Let’s start with the basics of what defines sexual orientation discrimination. Just like discrimination in any other form, treating someone in the workplace differently based on their sexual orientation is an unlawful action that may violate company policies and/or state and federal laws. Sexual orientation is defined by whether an individual identifies themselves as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or other.
Not only does an individual have to identify with a particular sexual orientation to endure discrimination, but they may simply be perceived as belonging to a particular orientation by coworkers or bosses. This type of discrimination or harassment is commonplace, unfortunately, and must be dealt with appropriately by your company’s human resources department or the parties involved.
Typically, discrimination involves a higher level of differential treatment than an individual simply getting reprimanded for violating company policy. Discrimination must involve actual treatment based on the fact of someone’s sexual orientation and must go above and beyond normal professional protocol. Differential treatment on the basis of sexual orientation often involves issues such as promotions, salary amounts and job termination. Harassment, on the other hand, may involve more extreme behavior towards an individual such as unwanted physical touch, inappropriate comments, verbal abuse and solicitations. A good example of sexual orientation discrimination might be a manager who overlooks a more qualified employee for a promotion because she identifies as a lesbian and chooses a less qualified employee who is heterosexual.
Laws and Policies That Protect Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination
There are a variety of different laws and policies that govern employee rights when it comes to sexual orientation discrimination. These come from several different sources.
- State laws: Each state has its own set of laws that determine how sexual orientation discrimination can be dealt with, what is acceptable and what is not. More than half of the states in the U.S. have sexual orientation discrimination laws in place to serve those in both public and private places of work. There are also some local city and county governments with established laws against public and private employee discrimination based on sexual orientation. Additionally, 12 states protect employees from gender identity discrimination issues or differential treatment based on whether they identify as male, female or transgender.
- Federal laws: While there are federal laws that protect workers against discrimination on the basis of sex, race, age, religion, disability and other factors, there is no widespread law that governs sexual orientation. Still, those who are employed by the federal government are protected from this kind of discrimination under a separate law.
- Company policies: Each business is responsible for determining its own company policies regarding sexual orientation discrimination, and these regulations must be clearly available for employees to access. It is common for company policies of this nature to be included in the employee handbook that new hires receive.
As federal-, state- and company-based discrimination rules shift and adapt to the changing environment, it is up to you to review the legalities that deal with sexual orientation discrimination at your workplace and stay updated on any changes or the adoption of new laws.
Legal Disclaimer
The content on our website is only meant to provide general information and is not legal advice. We make our best efforts to make sure the information is accurate, but we cannot guarantee it. Do not rely on the content as legal advice. For assistance with legal problems or for a legal inquiry please contact you attorney.