You can certainly face discrimination on the job for being part of a protected class. This is a violation of your rights. For instance, perhaps your employer discriminates against you because you are pregnant or because you have a different ethnic background than your coworkers. Your rights have been violated, and you may need to take legal action.
But what if you’re not even part of that protected class? Could you be discriminated against for something that isn’t true and shouldn’t apply, just because someone else believes it is?
This could still be discrimination
Yes. If the discrimination is based on a protected class, it could still occur, even if you are not technically within that class.
Pregnancy is a good example. Say you interview for a job and don’t get it. The reason is that you are in your mid-20s and recently got married. The employer assumes that you may become pregnant in the near future, so they choose not to hire you because they don’t want to deal with the potential for maternity leave or staffing gaps. What your employer doesn’t know is that you’ve been experiencing fertility issues and cannot become pregnant. Regardless, you could still face pregnancy discrimination based entirely on their assumption.
Another example could involve discrimination based on your ethnic background. Maybe you have physical characteristics that lead someone to assume you were born in a different country. In reality, you were born in the United States and are a U.S. citizen. Your parents are simply immigrants, and you share some of their traits. Once again, an employer’s incorrect assumption could lead to discriminatory treatment.
If you believe this has happened to you, it’s important to know what legal steps to take moving forward.