Encino Sexual Orientation Discrimination Lawyer

Encino Sexual Orientation Discrimination Attorney

Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), it is illegal for employers to discriminate against or harass employees based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation. This critical protection covers individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual, transgender men and women or any other orientation.

At the Encino-based employment law firm of Gruzen Moussly Law, we are passionate about advancing LGBTQ rights and ending discrimination in all its forms.

Our Encino workplace discrimination attorneys have decades of combined experience taking on corporations and organizations that have unfairly treated employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity. We are committed to holding these institutions accountable.

The FEHA bars unfair treatment in all aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, promotions, compensation, benefits, training, assignments and other terms and conditions. It does not matter if the orientation is real or merely presumed by the employer – discrimination based on stereotypes is unlawful.

Specifically prohibited discriminatory actions include:

• Refusing to hire or promote qualified candidates based on orientation
• Terminating employees because of their sexuality
• Denying training opportunities due to orientation
• Paying lower wages or withholding benefits compared to other employees
• Assigning less desirable duties based on stereotypes

The law also forbids harassment, intimidation, or creation of a hostile work environment due to actual or perceived orientation. In addition, California law protects employees against discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression, or sex assigned at birth. Appearance, behavior, and identity are protected regardless of sex assigned at birth.

These laws aim to ensure employment decisions are based on ability and qualifications, not generalizations or assumptions. By preventing unfair treatment, workers can gain access to jobs and succeed according to their talents.

While not always obvious or explicit, there are several ways that your employer or supervisors may be discriminating against you or harassing you because of your sexual orientation. Examples may include:

• Making jokes or comments about your sexual orientation
• Managers suggesting you use your sexual orientation to gain favor with certain clients
• Making jokes or comments about what you do in your private sex life
• Allowing sexual harassment in the workplace
• Supervisors not taking reports of discrimination seriously
• Allowing a hostile work environment against gay employees
• Sharing offensive comics or memes
• Quid pro quo sexual harassment
• Making perceived gay and straight workers take on different duties
• Firing you for expressing a change in gender identity

Gruzen Moussly Law has successfully represented LGBTQ employees in cases involving wrongful termination, failure to accommodate, hostile work environments, LGBTQ-based harassment, and more.

Our sexual orientation discrimination lawyers will compassionately listen as you describe what happened, then aggressively pursue the maximum compensation you deserve. If you have faced discrimination or harassment in hiring, promotions, compensation, benefits or have been terminated because of your sexuality or gender status, we want to hear your story.