However, it also pertains to discrimination by a landlord, business establishment you visit or any type of legal benefit you attempt to enjoy. If your employer doesn't like you and fires you, it isn't necessarily actionable discrimination. The specific categories which are protected are spelled out in particular laws, or statutes. Some types of protections have been developed through the Courts. Because gender, or sex, is one protected category, everyone is protected by at least one category.
Many people fall into more than one protected category.
None of these are protected categories. In other words, if the category of the discrimination isn't spelled out in a statute, the employee may NOT be protected from that form of discrimination. Therefore, if the boss doesn't like you, but you don't know why, or the category isn't protected by law, she can fire you or not hire you for that reason. However, if the harassment is so severe that it causes you a level of stress that a doctor recommends against you tolerating, you may file a Worker's Compensation claim. What matters is the motive.