Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibit discrimination against employees based on national origin or ancestry.
National origin and ancestry refer to “the country where a person is born, or, more broadly, the country from which his or her ancestors came.”
There are two types of discrimination cases based on national origin and ancestry:
When an employer intentionally treats employees differently because of their national origin or ancestry (“disparate treatment”)
When an employer has a policy or practice which adversely impacts employees of a particular ancestry or national origin, even if the policy or practice is not discriminatory on its face (“disparate impact”)
For instance, an employee’s right to a workplace free from discrimination based on national origin or ancestry may be violated by discrimination based on an employee’s dress, accent or even “English-only” policies.
If you believe that you were fired from your job, laid off, demoted (or not promoted), or suffered a reduction in pay or other adverse employment action based on your national origin, please contact the Law Offices of David S. Levy for a free initial consultation. We typically represent victims of discrimination based on national origin on a contingent fee basis, which means that our clients do not pay attorney fees or costs unless and until there is a recovery.