By Christian West-Coleman
NASHVILLE, TN — Greetings Nashville, today I’d like to touch on the topic of labor and employment law. This area of law is my specialty and it is quite relevant to the rapidly growing work force here in Nashville. Here are some things to keep in mind about this area of law if you feel you’ve experienced negative treatment at the hands of your employer.
Labor and employment law consists of a patchwork of different federal and state laws aimed at protecting employees from unfair actions committed by their employers or labor unions. Probably the most well-known federal protections arise under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law protects employees from unlawful discrimination or harassment in the work place. Unlawful discrimination includes unequal treatment based on one’s race, color, sex, religion, or national origin – also known as protected categories. Harassment or hostile work environment includes any offensive and pervasive conduct based on the protected categories that affects the terms and conditions of one’s employment. It is important to keep in mind that you not only have to prove that your employer treated you unequally, but it is crucial that you prove that the unequal treatment or harassment was because of your race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. For example, if an employer failed to hire you or fired you, he/she must have done so because of your race in order for him/her to be liable for race based discrimination.
In addition, employers may be found liable for discrimination based on age or disability. You may also seek compensation for employer violations of your employment contract. Furthermore, employers may also be liable for poor safety conditions, unequal pay, bad faith in workers’ compensation cases, and many other unfair acts.
Christian West-Coleman is an associate attorney with McCullough Law, PLLC. She is spear-heading the firm’s Nashville Office, which is located at One Nashville Place, 20th Floor, Nashville, TN 37219. The firm can be reached at 615-730-0073.
