Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination Is Illegal

Federal, state, and local laws prohibit employers from discriminating against applicants and employees on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, and other protected characteristics. These laws apply to hiring, pay, promotions, discipline, terminations, and every other term and condition of employment.

Retaliation against a person who opposes discrimination, files a complaint, or participates in an investigation is also illegal, independent of whether the original complaint is ultimately substantiated.

In the United States, the principal federal statutes protecting workers include:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), and national origin.
• The Equal Pay Act of 1963, which requires equal pay for equal work by men and women in the same establishment.
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which protects people age 40 and older.
• Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which protect qualified individuals with disabilities and require reasonable accommodation.
• The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, which protects against discrimination based on genetic information.
• The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, which protects the employment and reemployment rights of service members and veterans.

Under these laws and under Auliq's own policies, every applicant and employee has the right to:

• Work in an environment free from discrimination, harassment, and intimidation on any protected basis.
• Be evaluated on qualifications, performance, and conduct rather than personal characteristics.
• Request a reasonable accommodation for a disability or religious practice without fear of reprisal.
• Raise a concern, file a complaint, or participate in an investigation without experiencing retaliation.
• Receive a prompt, impartial review of any discrimination complaint they bring forward.
• Access information about their protections and the remedies available under the law.

Discrimination is not always obvious. It can appear in everyday decisions and in patterns that only become visible over time. Some examples include:

• Being passed over for hiring, promotion, or training opportunities in circumstances that suggest protected characteristics played a role.
• Unequal pay or benefits for substantially similar work under similar conditions.
• Offensive jokes, slurs, epithets, or name-calling related to a protected characteristic.
• Unwelcome comments about a person's religion, disability, age, pregnancy, or family plans.
• Exclusion from meetings, projects, or workplace activities based on a protected characteristic.
• Negative consequences, reassignment, or termination following a complaint or accommodation request.

If you experience or witness discrimination at Auliq, report it. You can raise the concern with your manager, with Human Resources, or through the confidential channels described in our Whistleblower Policy. Reports are handled promptly, impartially, and confidentially, and no one will be penalized for raising a concern in good faith.

You also have the right to file a charge directly with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the applicable state or local fair employment practices agency. Deadlines for filing with public agencies apply, so act promptly if you are considering that route.

The following resources offer further information about your protections and about how concerns are handled:

• Your manager or Human Resources contact, for the fastest route to a review of any concern.
• Auliq's Whistleblower Policy (/about/whistleblower-policy), for confidential reporting channels available to anyone in the company.
• Auliq's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy (/legal/eeo), for the company's full internal commitments.
• The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (eeoc.gov), the federal agency that enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws.
• State and local fair employment practices agencies, which enforce parallel protections in many jurisdictions.