Preventing Workplace Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation

I NTRODUCTION

Section 1

Discrimination, harassment, or retaliation against a public agency employee or job applicant impedes employment opportunities, morale, job performance, and the provision of public services. Such conduct: (1) deters quality applicants from applying to your agency; (2) creates a poor public image; and (3) can result in hundreds of thousands of public dollars being spent on attorneys’ fees and damage awards, rather than on public services.

This workbook and the accompanying seminar provide the training that California law requires supervisory employees receive on the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.

Section 2 L AWS P ROHIBITING H ARASSMENT , D ISCRIMINATION , AND R ETALIATION Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 1 (Title VII) is the federal law that prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace. In addition, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 2 (ADEA) prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against employees or job applicants because of age. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 3 (ADA) prohibits employers from discriminating, harassing, or retaliating against employees or job applicants because of physical or mental disability. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), prohibits employers from discriminating, harassing, or retaliating against employees or job applicants because of their genetic information. 4 The California Fair Employment and Housing Act 5 (FEHA) is the state law that prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on a protected status. It is not just the state equivalent of Title VII; rather the FEHA provides employees and job applicants with far greater rights than those available through Title VII in terms of scope of coverage and available remedies.

P ROTECTED S TATUSES /C LASSIFICATIONS

Section 3

It is illegal to discriminate or harass an employee or applicant because of or based on:

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Race or Color;

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National Origin or Ancestry;

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Religious Creed;

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Physical or Mental Disability;

Preventing Workplace Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 8