Bergen County, New Jersey Sex Discrimination Lawyer

Discrimination may occur to female employees and to male employees.  The discrimination may be obvious, such as not allowing women in higher paying positions, positions of more responsibility, positions in upper management. Discrimination based on sex may be more subtle such as disparities in the percentages of persons of one gender being offered promotions over the other gender; disparities in the percentages of persons of one gender being offered training for advancement over the other gender. These disparities may occur in any type of job description, blue collar or white collar,  at any level of pay, and at any level of management. Discrimination based on sex may occur in terms of not promoting you, not offering you the same opportunities and benefits as other employees, being treated differently in terms of the quality and conditions of your work environment, job assignments.

Females and males maybe subject to a hostile work environment, which is a form of Sexual  Harassment. A hostile work environment can take many forms and can take place in public and private employment. Some examples are telling or posting lewd jokes or jokes degrading to one's sex, co‑workers having obscene computer sites on the office computers where others may see it, pornographic cartoons or drawings displayed where other workers may see it. A hostile work environment based on sex may be combined with other types of harassment, such as racial harassment or sexual orientation harassment. Some examples are obscene caricatures of persons in displayed cartoons, where features or behavior of a certain race or sexual orientation are stereotyped or exaggerated.  Sexual harassment can be overt. It can happen to males or females. Examples of sexual harassment includes repeated requests for dates,  unwanted touching, or implications that you allow the employer  to touch or grope you, or indications that your employer wants sexual favors,  and implied threats that if you refuse, you will not be promoted, or you will be demoted, fired, or given less desirable work, or that your employer will reschedule the shifts that you work. All workers are protected from sexual harassment under state and/or federal law, even illegal immigrant workers.

Sexual Orientation Harassment, Transsexual, Gender Identity or Gender Expression Harassment

New Jersey law prohibits employment discrimination because of one's gender identity and sexual orientation. It is illegal for an employer to engage in or allow Sexual Orientation Harassment, Gender Identity or Gender Expression Harassment. Employment discrimination against someone undergoing a change in status such as a male‑to‑female transsexual may violate LAD's prohibition against sex‑based discrimination.

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Gender Expression Harassment includes overt acts such as using homophobic epithets, or an employer's allowing the use of homophobic slang words by other co‑workers, insensitive jokes, and more subtle hostile acts such as being treated differently in terms of the quality of the work environment that creates a hostile work environment. Illegal harassment and discrimination can also occur because of an employee's relationship with another person who is a member of a protected class, such as an employee being harassed because he has lesbian parents or a transsexual child.

Transgender, Gender Identity or Gender Expression Harassment and Discrimination

Gender harassment can occur to who does not fit the stereo‑typical notion of gender associated with sex, such as a a male who has "feminine" characteristics, or whose self‑identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender.

Retaliation

If you complained about discrimination or that you were being treated differently in terms of your pay, the quality and conditions of your work environment, job assignments, or if you reported acts that you believed constituted sexual harassment, and then you were demoted, terminated, or retaliated against in terms of the  quality and conditions of your work environment or  job assignments, you may have a valid claim for illegal retaliation for exercising your civil rights.

Contact a Bergen County, NJ Sex Discrimination/Sexual Harassment Lawyer

For a free consultation contact Hope A. Lang at (201) 599‑9600 with your employment discrimination questions today.

Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law, represents employees throughout New Jersey in complex employment discrimination lawsuits. She accepts cases from all counties in Northern, Southern, and Central New Jersey and has locations in central, western and northern New Jersey to meet with clients. If you believe that you have been discriminated against due to gender identity or other protected characteristic, such as age, disability, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or national origin, or in retaliation for reporting what you believed to be illegal acts of your employer,  she can help you. It is important to know your rights as an employee.