Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Discrimination Due to Political Affiliation

Discrimination in any aspect is a practice frowned upon by the society. If you are discriminated against due to your race, sex, political beliefs, disabilities or religion. The law empowers you to sue.

The law gives a person the right to sue when discriminated against as early as the application stage of employment. This is what Teresa Wagner did when the university turned her down for a teaching position because of her political beliefs. She sued University of Iowa and its dean alleging that the latter even suggested to conceal her affiliations and not to apply for any faculty positions.

In California, it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee merely because he/she is a democrat or a republican. Whether an applicant should be hired or not or an employee should be fired or not should greatly depend on his/her credentials, experience and performance.

An applicant or employee’s political beliefs is personal to him/her which in no way affect or determine his/her fitness or qualification to the job.

If you are in California and you experienced any form of discrimination, it would be advisable to consult an employment discrimination attorney.