Special Concerns:
Discrimination & Harassment

In almost all states, the employment relation, just like the social relation, is considered to be "at will." By this we mean that either the employer or the employee may end the relation - that is, the employee,may quit or be fired - at any time, for any reason or for no reason. (This would include modifying the relation, as well.)

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There are, though, some limitations on the "at will" employment doctrine. Over the years, our society has seen fit to make it illegal to treat people differently in the workplace on account of their race, or their gender, or their religion, or age, or handicap, or several other bases. Said another way, we have all decided, through our representative democracy, that the different treatment of people in the workplace because of their differences is, simply, wrong.

For those who believe that they have been treated wrongly in this way, the hard part in addressing those wrongs is to establish that the motivation for the treatment you've received was, in fact, an improper one. Sometimes, employers say things in the office, perhaps in front of others, which would tend to show illegal discrimination. Sometimes we can assemble documents and correspondence which set out a very clear picture of discrimination. Sometimes we can assemble data on hiring, promotion and pay scale to illustrate a probable illegal motivation in the workplace. Each case is different, so we handle each case differently.

The laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace can be federal or state or even local in their origin. Each "level" of potential law must be reviewed, and considered for its utilization. The laws, and the cases that interpret them, have made this area of the law an increasingly expanding one.

Our society has also "drawn the line" when it comes to the brutality, the meanness, the cruelty with which an employee may be treated in the workplace. Originally, the laws and court decisions regarding harassment of workers were related to those who joined labor unions; at one time even beatings and killings took place. In the last few decades, laws regarding harassment arose again in the context of "sexual harassment," in which an employer would either require sexual favors in return for workplace rights, or would allow severe and constant taunting of employees relating to sexual matters or materials. Both of these areas of "harassment law" — relating to labor activists and sexual matters — have spread to other areas, bringing other forms of inappropriate conduct under the "illegal harassment" umbrella.

The state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace based on age, gender, race, disability, nationality and other criteria together constitute a potent weapon in addressing wrongful treatment.

The legal bases, theories and arguments which have been propounded in order to make equality of opportunity a reality are expanding daily. Such matters as the "glass ceiling" faced by women executives in the workplace are in the forefront of these efforts. Our office regularly counsels and represents executive employees in addressing such wrongs, and in obtaining full and fair redress.

At the same time, in fairness we must all recognize that not every person accused of discrimination or harassment is guilty as charged. Terrible injustices can also take place — even career-ending ones — as the result of mistaken or bad-faith allegations of misconduct. As we stand ready to assist those who have been harassed or discriminated against, so too are we prepared to stand up with and for those who have been wrongfully accused.