Detroit Employment Law Blog

Businesses and employers cannot discriminate against workers -- or potential workers -- on the basis of the worker's religious belief system in the United States. By virtue of the First Amendment, one of the primary principles of the United States is protection from religious discrimination. This is largely because the original founders of the United States had suffered from religious persecution in Europe, leading to escape to the "New World" where they could enjoy a freer life.

In addition to the right of the general population to live free of religious persecution in the United States, U.S. workers also enjoy protection from religious-based employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil rights Act of 1964, which prevents private and government employers from discriminating against potential and current employees as a result of their religions. For example, employers cannot pass you up for a promotion or fail to hire you for a job simply because your Christian, Hindu, Muslim or Jewish.

One of the biggest dangers of becoming a so-called "whistleblower" is the threat of employer retaliation. Imagine, for example, that you work for a construction firm that engages in numerous Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) safety violations because it's too "cheap" to pay for legally required safety improvements.

Nevertheless, the workers put up with the safety issues because they're thankful to have a job and they don't want to risk their incomes by complaining. After a co-worker suffered a serious injury, you've decided that enough is enough, and you've filed a complaint with OSHA to complain.

Your workplace is your second home. In fact, it's probably where you spend most of your waking hours. Not everyone has the luxury of a job, workplace and coworkers they genuinely enjoy. However, at the very least, no one should have to put up with any kind of harassment or discrimination while on the job.

Sadly, workplace discrimination continues to be a problem in Michigan workplaces, and employment law attorneys hear from clients who have been discriminated against time and time again. Here are four of the most common types of discrimination that individuals encounter in the workplace:

Michigan is an employment-at-will state, which means employers can dismiss employees for no reason, good reason, or even a bad reason.

This does not mean, however, that an employer can fire an employee for an illegal reason. When that happens, it's called wrongful termination and the wronged employee might have a legal claim.