Employment discrimination claims are consistently one of the most vigorously litigated areas of employment law. Generally, public-sector employers must comply with federal anti-discrimination statutes on the same basis as private-sector employers, with some limited exceptions. Although many of these resources were written for private-sector counsel, the content is useful to government lawyers representing state and local government entities.

The federal anti-discrimination statutes covered by the resources provided in this Toolkit include:

The Federal Public Sector Employment Law Toolkit contains resources to assist federal government lawyers navigate related matters involving employment discrimination, including administrative practice and dispute resolution before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

No single federal statute governs an employer's obligation to stop workplace harassment or refrain from retaliating against employees who engage in protected activity. Rather, claims of harassment and retaliation can be asserted through the majority of federal anti-discrimination laws. The following resources provide a general overview of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

Title VII (42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e - 2000e-17) prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, gender, and national origin, and applies to all state and local government employers with 15 or more employees on the payroll for more than 20 calendar workweeks. (42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b)) Employee, under Title VII, does not include state and local elected officials or individuals selected or appointed by elected officials as personal staff, policy making level staff, or immediate advisors regarding the constitutional or legal powers of the elected office (42 U.S.C. § 2000e(f)).

The PDA amended Title VII to prohibit discrimination based on an employee's pregnancy or pregnancy-related medical condition. As a result of the PDA, pregnant employees must be allowed leave on the same basis as any other employee, treating the denial of leave as gender-based discrimination. Additional protections are afforded pregnant state- and local-government employees through the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) (29 U.S.C. §§ 2601 - 2654), and the ADA (see Americans with Disabilities Act).

The EPA (29 U.S.C. § 206(d)) requires covered employers to pay male and female employees the same if they are performing substantially equal work under the same or similar working conditions. The EPA applies to state-, and local-government employees, unless the employee is not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219). Section 3(e) of the FLSA identifies covered state- and local-government employees (29 U.S.C. § 203(e)(2)(C); 29 C.F.R. §1620.8).

The ADEA (29 U.S.C. §§ 621 - 634) prohibits discrimination against individuals aged 40 or older and applies to all state and local government employers (29 U.S.C. § 630(b)).

The ADA (42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12113), as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), prohibits state and local government employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with a disability and applies to all state and local government employers with 15 or more employees on the payroll for more than 20 calendar workweeks (42 U.S.C. § 12111(5)).

The GINA (42 U.S.C. §§ 2000ff - 2000ff-11) prohibits workplace discrimination in employment and health insurance based on genetic information and applies to state- and local-government employers with 15 or more employees, and those whose elected officials select or appoint personal staff or policy-level employees (42 U.S.C. §2000ff(2); 29 C.F.R § 1635.2(b) - (d)).

The USERRA (38 U.S.C. §§ 4301- 4335) prohibits discrimination against past and current members of the uniformed services, as well as applicants to the uniformed services. The statute applies to all state and local government employers regardless of size (38 U.S.C. § 4303(4)).

Service members are also provided additional protection at the state and local level through the FMLA. The FMLA requires that covered employers provide eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for family and medical reasons, including taking care of certain family members who are qualifying covered service members with a serious injury or illness. These protections are broader than protections provided non-service members under the FMLA.