National Origin Discrimination Attorney Miami

National origin discrimination occurs when an employee or job applicant is treated unfairly or harassed in the workplace based on his or her:

• Nation of origin
• Ethnicity
• Citizenship or immigration status
• Ancestry
• Culture
• Foreign Accent
• Dialect or foreign language
• Ethnic style of dress or clothing
• Rituals
• Cuisine
• Ideology
• Physical Appearance
• The perceived nation of origin, ethnicity, citizenship or immigration status,
• Association with a person of an actual or perceived nation of origin, ethnicity, citizenship or immigration status

These protections are extended to individuals from areas that are not recognized as a nation, such as refugees from a defunct government.

Florida, and Miami in particular, are right on the forefront of discrimination laws. A workplace is designed to be a place free from harassment and discrimination. When that does not occur, there are federal and state laws that provide you with options to obtain the justice you deserve.

The Federal Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that it is illegal to discriminate against an employee because of their national origin. This means that the employer cannot create a hostile work environment or conduct an adverse employment action against a person because the person is from a different country, has an accent, is perceived to be from a different country, or is associated with another person who is from or perceived to be from a different country.

In addition, the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR) says it is illegal to discriminate against an employee because of their national origin.

It may be easier than you would think to spot national origin discrimination in the workplace. Any time a person is told to “go back to where you came from” or is told that only English is allowed to be spoken even when it is not necessary for job functionality, that is national origin discrimination. Here are a few other examples of this type of discrimination:

• Firing a person because of their ethnic difference
• Creating a hostile work environment for a person from another country
• Refusal to hire a person who appears to be from another country
• Refusal to give a person with a heavy foreign accent a promotion, even if he or she is qualified and tasked with additional work
• Making comments about a person’s nationality that make the person uncomfortable or are disrespectful
• Retaliating against a person who reported an issue to HR regarding national origin discrimination
• Firing a person because of their national origin
• Refusing to give a project to a person because of their accent
• Treating a person unfairly because of the schools or organizations the person belongs to that are associated with their nationality or culture.
• Creating workplace guidelines meant to single out people of a particular national origin
• Keeping a person separated from the group because he or she looks like he or she is from another country
• Making derogatory comments to a person because of his or her national origin or spouse’s national origin.
• Firing an employee because he or she is married to a person from another country

These are just a few ways in which national origin discrimination can be seen in the workplace. If you have experienced these or other types of behaviors that have made you the victim of workplace national origin discrimination, the experienced attorneys at the Derek Smith Law Group can help you get the compensation you deserve.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) monitors claims filed for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under the rules of the EEOC, you have 6 months to file a claim from the date of the last incident of national origin discrimination. However, since Florida has a reciprocal law, the EEOC will allow 300 days from the date of the incident to file a claim. Once the EEOC issues a Right to Sue letter after completing its investigation, you will have 90 days from receipt of the letter to file your claim in federal court.

If you choose to file your claim with the FCHR, you have 365 days from the date of the incident to file. The FCHR will conduct its investigation, and under its Work-Sharing Agreement, may share your claim with the EEOC to allow you to file your complaint in federal court.

When an employee experiences workplace national origin discrimination, he or she is looking to receive justice. Justice comes in many forms. Some of the ways in which the court will provide you relief for your claim include:

• Reinstatement of employment
• Removal of employee or supervisor discriminating against you
• Attorney’s Fees
• Back pay
• Future wages
• Repayment of benefit premiums
• Reimbursement of related medical expenses
• Pain and Suffering
• Review of policies which may be discriminatory and revamping of those policies
• Punitive damages. These damages are meant to punish he employer to prevent him or her from discriminating against employees in the future.

Each workplace national origin discrimination case is different. That means each timeline is unique to the facts of your case. However, certain guidelines can help determine the expected length of your case from start to finish. First, the Right to Sue letter can take anywhere from a month to a year to receive. However, once that is received, we have 90 days to file your case with the courts. Depending on the facts of your case, your employer may choose to settle and come to the table with a fair number, which will end your case in a few months. More than likely, however, we will need to be prepared to go back and forth in out of court discussions and potentially, trial, which could take an additional year or more.

The United States has many different people looking for work that are qualified and eligible to work. Some people are not Us citizens but have a work visa or other legal reasons they are able to work in the US. The Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) says that an employer cannot take any adverse employment decisions or harass an employee because of their citizenship and immigration status. As long as the employer has four or more employees and the employee has legal documentation giving him or her the right to work, the employer must at least consider the person for employment and cannot act adversely against the person because they may not be an American citizen.

We want to hear from you. How can we help you? Did we miss anything? The experienced attorneys at Derek Smith Law Group in Miami are available to answer your questions about your national origin workplace discrimination case. Call us today at (305) 946-1884 for your free consultation. We do not get paid until you win your case.