Matters Federal law prohibits employment discrimination because of race, color, national origin, legal alienage, sex, pregnancy, religion, age, disability and union activity. Employment Discrimination laws generally protect not only present employees, but also former employees and some people, like applicants for jobs, who never have been employees.
Most state laws protect workers on the same grounds as federal law.
Several state laws and some local laws also protect against discrimination because of marital status, sexual orientation or preference. Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex. It is helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop.