Standing Up for Oklahoma Workers’ Rights
Unfair treatment at work can have a devastating effect on a person’s ability to earn a living. Workers expect an employer to prevent or stop harassment, discrimination, unsafe conditions and hostile work environments. In many cases where employers fail to provide a fair, safe work environment, a Tulsa workplace attorney can help.
As Oklahoma employment lawyers, we hold employers responsible for unfair, unlawful conduct. We can navigate the maze of state and federal regulatory agencies to get justice for you.
If you’re the target of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination or a hostile workplace, ask our skilled and experienced workers rights attorney what the law can do for you. Call (918) 879-1681 to set up an introductory strategy session.
Oklahoma Employment Discrimination Law
Oklahoma employment law provides protection against the most common forms of workplace discrimination. The law provides remedies for discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or as retaliation.
Courts may order Oklahoma employers to end discriminatory practices and may award employees financial damages. The employer may even be ordered to pay attorneys fees. Oklahoma’s employment discrimination law can be used to address common workplace complaints including sexual harassment, racial discrimination in hiring or promotions, age discrimination or retaliation against whistleblowers. Okla. Stat. tit. 25 § 1350.
There’s a downside to Oklahoma’s workers’ rights law, too. To qualify, an employee must file a claim within 180 days of the date when discrimination occurred. The charge must first be presented to the Attorney General’s Office of Civil Rights Enforcement or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Only after one of those agencies issues a Notice of Right to Sue may the employee file a lawsuit in district court.
An Oklahoma employment discrimination attorney can advise you whether the circumstances at your job amount to unlawful discrimination. Contact an employee rights attorney at Wirth Law Office to discover how you can protect your workplace rights and collect any income you lost as the result of discrimination.
Federal Employment Law Attorneys
The U.S. government regulates workplaces with a complex maze of federal employment law and rules, addressing topics that range from labor organizing to safety to discrimination. Violations may involve multiple areas of federal law, such as when labor organizing activities lead to retaliation, or unsafe work conditions lead to harassment or when discrimination complaints lead to wrongful termination.
Because Oklahoma law addresses the same concerns as federal law, workplace discrimination cases are usually first tendered in state courts. Federal law can still affect the outcome. And some forms of workplace discrimination are best addressed under federal law.
Employers find defenses to Oklahoma employment discrimination claims in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
While those federal laws expose opportunities for employers to defend against employee’s workplace claims, they also create a body of rights workers can enforce. An Oklahoma workers rights attorney can advise you whether your claim is best addressed under Oklahoma law or in a federal jurisdiction.
FMLA: Family and Medical Leave Act Violations
Under federal law, employees of larger companies enjoy an opportunity to stay home without pay while caring for family members. Violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act can result in money awards for lost pay. But the act only applies to specific employers in specific circumstances.
Terms of the FMLA apply when a company has 50 or more workers at workplaces within a 75 mile radius. That means an employee at a remote workplace might not enjoy the same FMLA protections as employees at a busy headquarters office of the same company. You will most likely need an Oklahoma FMLA attorney to help you discover whether your workplace is covered.
Although FMLA is widely recognized as authority for unpaid maternity leave, the Act covers several other important circumstances. In fact, many family medical situations may qualify a person to remain with their employer, enrolled in the employer’s health insurance program, while on unpaid leave to provide care. Family members may take up to 12 weeks to care for a new infant, a newly adopted child, a spouse or another family member.
Family members of service personnel may qualify for military caregiver leave – for up to to 26 weeks of the year to care for a spouse, son, daughter, parent or next of kin who is an ill or injured service member.
As with Oklahoma’s employment discrimination law, those who win judgements under the FMLA can ask the court to make the employer pay their attorney’s fees.
Strategy Session: Tulsa Workers Rights Lawyer
If you’ve been discriminated against at work because of your of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or as retaliation, contact an Oklahoma employee rights attorney today. Call a Wirth Law Office Oklahoma employment law attorney at (918) 879-1681 or request a consultation using the contact button at the top of this page.
Didn’t Find What You’re Looking For?
Wirth Law Office employment attorneys help with a variety of workplace concerns. Perhaps you need an Oklahoma Unemployment Attorney to help appeal an unemployment decision? That’s here.
Or maybe you were injured at work. Talk to Wirth Law Office about your Workers Compensation claims. Learn more here.
