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Legal Definition of Discrimination?

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sjaguar13

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

What is the legal definition of discrimination, and does it apply to everyone at the company or just departments? For example, if the owner's family worked in accounting and only the family worked in accounting, can an employee handbook state company rules that must be followed by all employees, except those that are related to the owner on the grounds that the account department has different requirements?
 


pattytx

Senior Member
Illegal discrimination is that based on a Title VII characteristic or one that is additionally protected under a particular state's statute (for example, sexual orientation is not protected federally, but is protected in some states).

In the example you gave, since being a non-relative of the owner is NOT a protected status, that would be legal.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
that is called living in the real world. a company can arbitrarily apply rules as they desire as long as they do not apply them or not based on legally acknowledged classes such as race, religion, color, creed, gender, etc.

nepotism has always had a place in a family run business
 

eerelations

Senior Member
All discrimination is legal, unless it's based on things like race, age (only if the discriminatees are over 40), gender, religion, or disability, and so on. Nepotism isn't one of those things, ergo discrimination based on family relationships is perfectly legal.
 

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