Discrimination Lawyer

by editor on November 14, 2011

Discrimination Lawyer

Discrimination Lawyer

Before discussing about the discrimination lawyer let us first explain about discrimination, discrimination law and the forms of discrimination in a very brief manner.

What is meant by discrimination, discrimination law and what are the forms of discrimination?

Discrimination is an intended (or biasful) and unlawful behavior of a person based upon any of a set of federally protected features. In short discrimination is nothing but a violation of human rights of an individual. Discrimination could adversely affect an individual’s chances of employment, availability of housing and loan facility, business facilites, access to medical facilites, access to education and access to other public services and benefits.Disrimination involves situations like an employee not being paid the same wage as his/her colleague, allotting menial tasks to an individual and not promoting the employee though he/she may be efficient in carrying out his/her tasks in the office work.

Discrimination law is a kind of federal law that prohibits the unfair treatment or a discrimination of an individual or a group of individuals based upon race, religion, caste, age, ethnicity, gender or handicap of an individual or a group of individuals.

There are various forms of discrimination. Let us discuss about them in brief:

  • Age Discrimination: Age discrimination takes place against an individual or a group based upon the age. Generally it is observed that this kind of discrimination takes place in the cases of the employment of the elder and experienced employee. For example, an old and experienced employee is replaced by a young employee
  • Gender Discrimination: Gender discrimination takes place when an individual is given unfair treatment due to the gender. It is usually seen that the gender discrimination takes place against the women at the workplace. For  example when a women employee with the same educational qualifications and experience as the male employee get less wages then her male counterpart and she is not given promotion in the firm  due to her gender
  • Physical or mental disability discrimination: Mental or Physical disability discrimination include the discrimination against an individual due to his/her mental, physical and learning disabilities as well as his/her working disability due to some sever chronic problem. For example individuals with physical or mental disabilities are discriminated in getting equal employment opportunities, housing or services against  other individuals with no disabilities
  • Race and national origin discrimination :This type of discrimination occurs when an unfair treatment is given to a person based upon his/her race,culture,country of origin, ethnicity, accent  and  orientation
  • Religious discrimination: Religious discrimination is a treatment given to an individual that is based upon the individual’s religious practices or beliefs. This type of discrimination is observed in some of the firms where the employees are forced to take part or not to take part in  religious events of the firm as a condition of employment
  • Sexual orientation discrimination: In this kind of discrimination an individual is discriminated don account of  his/her sexual orientation
  • Other kinds of discrimination: These kinds of discrimination include reverse discrimination, pregnancy discrimination and language discrimination

Who is a discrimination lawyer?

Lawyers dealing with the discrimination law suits are the law professionals who handle the cases that are related with the discrimination in the employment related with the gender, age or race.

In order to become a lawyer handling the discrimination law suits an individual is first required to become an attorney within a geographical area or a state that the individual wants to practice law.

Skills required by the lawyer handling the discrimination law suits

  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have good knowledge of employment laws and Age Discrimination in Employment Act(ADEA) of United States
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have good grasping of statutory laws and federal laws
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have good knowledge about the age discrimination act of 1975, racial discrimination act of 1975, disability discrimination act and anti-discrimination act 1977
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have good ability in representing the people facing  discrimination in voting, discrimination against marital status and discrimination in government jobs
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must also have good ability to represent general public facing discrimination in education, medical services, hotels, restaurants, theaters, public parks , public transportation and in different places of entertainments
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must also have a great ability to represent the people facing hostility from some of their  peers as well as their bosses at the work place in the court of law

Educational requirements of the lawyer filing the discrimination law suits in the law court

  • Lawyers who want to  practice discrimination law suits  in the court of law must be certified with a four year bachelor degree certificate  in any discipline from a government recognized university plus three year  law degree from an accredited law institute
  • A candidate is required to clear the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) with a minimum passing score in order to get admitted  to  a law institute  that is recognized by the American Bar Association
  • It is compulsory   for a law graduate to clear the state bar written examination as well as the  written ethics examination to get a license to practice discrimination law suits in the court of law
  • Many law academies require their undergraduate students to complete legal internships or legal clerkships before completion of their law education. This would help the law students  to get the  practical beneficial knowledge of law that would help them to be good and efficient lawyers when they practice law in the court
  • After getting admitted as a lawyer to the state bar, the lawyer handling the discrimination law suits  must pass out  the required number of continuing legal education (CLE) courses in order to remain  constantly updated and well-informed about the changes that take place in the field of discrimination  law

Job responsibilities of the lawyer handling the discrimination law suits

  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have good knowledge of civil rights act of 1964 that protects an individual against discrimination in voting rights , acquiring  public education benefits and employment opportunities
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have good knowledge of equal pay act of 1963 that protects men, women and others against gender based wage discrimination
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have a good grasping of the employment act of 1967 that protects the individuals of the age of forty years or more from the age discrimination in the employment. This act also sets the rules and regulations for guiding the pensions and retirement benefit of the employees
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have good knowledge of civil rights act of 1968 that bans the discrimination against  race, religion, gender, origin , disability and family background which can affect the rental, sale or housing finance
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have knowledge of civil rights act of 1991 that provides the monetary damages in the case of the monetary damages suffered by an  employee when he/she has been subjected to intentional employment discrimination
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have good knowledge of the pregnancy discrimination act of 1978 that protects the female employees from being terminated or not considered for employment or promotion based on the current or future pregnancy
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have an in depth knowledge of title ninth of education act of 1972 that bans gender discrimination in the athletic programs as well as education programs
  • Lawyers handling the discrimination law suits must have good knowledge of disabilities act of 1990 that bans the discrimination against the individual’s physical and mental disability or discrimination against the chronic illness like epilepsy, aids and cancer

Necessity of hiring the lawyer handling the discrimination law suits

Today many individuals come across such situations in which people of different communities, age, religion, gender, race, foreign origin and physical or mental disabilities face discrimination in the form of mental abuse and harassment at the workplace. So it becomes necessary for an individual or a group of people who are victims of such harassments due to discrimination to hire a lawyer who can file discrimination law suits against the persons inflicting discrimination on victims on the behalf of victims in the court of law.

Also the United States constitution has limited the power of the federal and state governments to discriminate by making fifth and fourteenth amendments in the US constitution. According to the Fifth Amendment, it becomes mandatory for the federal or the state government to protect the rights of life, property or liberty of an individual and as per the fourteenth amendment forbids the state from violating individuals’ rights for getting equal protection. So it is necessary for an individual who faces discrimination to hire a lawyer dealing with the discrimination law suits as only the lawyer can properly interpret the fifth and fourteenth amendments and cite these amendments relevant to the legal suit in the court of law when the lawyer presents the law suit of his/her client in the court of law before the magistrate.

Thus the career as a discrimination lawyer is an ever growing career having the brightest future prospects.

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