The Michigan Civil Rights Commission ensures that citizens of Michigan do not face unlawful discrimination at their workplace. The federal law provides citizens with employment rights along with certain services to ensure the protection of these civil rights.
The law strictly forbids discrimination in areas of employment, public service, public accommodation, education and housing. The MCRC accepts all relevant complaints of Michigan citizens if they face unlawful discrimination at work on the basis of their color, religion, nationality, arrest record, marital status, disability, genetic information, age sex, weight or height.
The law has given power to the Commission to identify and eliminate unlawful discrimination by ordering appropriate remedies. Since the law grants citizens the Rights to Equal Employment Opportunities, employees can file a complaint if they have been refused employment, fired from work without any relevant reason, denied promotion, paid less money for equal work, subjected to unequal treatment on job or denied membership in a labor organization.
Additionally, all employers need to ensure that they provide equal opportunities to both men and women unless gender is a bona fide criterion for a particular occupation. A woman should not be denied a job assuming that she would not be able to perform due to physical labor, manual dexterity, night hours, overtime or unpleasant working conditions.
The victims can file complaints at any of the offices of MDCR if they have faced discrimination within the past 180 days. If the employer’s discrimination continues even during the time of filing a complaint, you can include that in your complaint. The departmental staff will help clear your doubts and queries regarding the protections guaranteed by the law.
Source: Michigan.gov, “For Victims of Unlawful Discrimination,” Accessed on April 23, 2015
