Federal and state civil rights laws protect employees and job applicants from discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, and age. Language discrimination and immigration status discrimination sometimes constitute unlawful national origin discrimination.

Most employers are covered by both federal and state anti-discrimination laws, but some very small employers are only covered by state law. The employment discrimination laws generally prohibit discrimination (on the prohibited grounds) in hiring, firing, promotions, demotions, wages or salaries, employee benefits, or any other terms or conditions of employment.

Some commonly asked questions are:

• What laws address discrimination?
• What are the different types of discrimination?
• Who investigates discrimination claims?