How Does Discrimination in the Hiring Process Occur?

You may have heard of individuals being in the workplace. However, this unfair treatment may, unfortunately, begin as early as the hiring process for a job opening. Read on to discover what discrimination in the hiring process looks like and how a seasoned employment discrimination attorney in Gloucester County, NJ can help you fight against this.

What New Jersey law protects against workplace discrimination?

Several federal and state laws protect employees from being discriminated against in the workplace. But one especially worth mentioning is the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and Disability Discrimination (NJLAD). More specifically, the NJLAD is a state law that saves employees from being discriminated against or harassed by employers or coworkers based on the following characteristics:

• Their race.
• Their national origin.
• Their age.
• Their sex.
• Their gender identification.
• Their sexual orientation.
• Their marital status.
• Their religion.
• Their pregnancy status.
• Their disability status.

Notably, also under this legislation, it is unlawful for an employer to deny job postings or job applications to potential candidates based on the above criteria.

What does discrimination in the hiring process look like?

Without further ado, below are specific examples of how discrimination in the hiring process may arise:

• An employer creates a job posting with a disclaimer that they refuse to hire individuals that belong to a certain protected class.
• An employer refuses to review an individual’s job application after discovering that they belong to a certain protected class.
• An employer refuses to interview an individual after discovering that they belong to a certain protected class.
• An employer refuses to offer an individual equal compensation as others in their position after discovering that they belong to a certain protected class.
• An employer refuses to hire an individual after running a background check and discovering that they belong to a certain protected class.
• An employer refuses to hire an individual with a disability that would only inhibit them from performing certain marginal job duties.

So, if any of the above situations happened to you, then you may just have a workplace discrimination claim on your hands. Of note, you may still hold an employer accountable even if you applied for a job opening through a third-party employment agency. With this, you can make the argument that the employer knew or should have reasonably known that the third-party employment agency was refusing to hire applicants after discovering that they belong to a certain protected class.

With that being said, your legal proceedings may amount to a long journey ahead of you. This is why we recommend that you schedule your initial consultation with one of our competent New Jersey employment lawyers today. We look forward to hearing from you.