Most state laws protect workers on the same grounds as federal law.
Some state and local laws also protect workers against discrimination for some added reasons such as marital status, sexual orientation or preference. See also Employment Discrimination . 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. See Americans with Disabilities Act . Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination because of race, color, sex, religion or national origin.