ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Employment discrimination law in the United States

Okay kiddo, so you know how when you play with your toys or go to school, everyone is different, right? Some kids are taller, some are shorter, some have different color skin or hair. But just because we are different doesn’t mean we should be treated differently. That’s called discrimination, and it’s not fair or nice.

Now, this is true for grown-ups too, when they are looking for a job or already have a job. Some employers may treat people unfairly based on things like their race, gender, age, disability or religion. But the government thinks that everyone should have equal rights when it comes to working, so they made a law to protect people from employment discrimination.

This law is called the Employment Discrimination Law. It says that companies are not allowed to treat you unfairly based on these things we mentioned earlier. This means they can’t hire you or fire you just because you’re a girl, or because you have a disability. They have to treat everyone the same and not give someone an advantage over another person because of their differences.

If someone thinks that they are being treated unfairly at their job because of these things, they can talk to their boss or human resources department. If that doesn’t work, they can file a complaint with the government. And then the government will investigate to see if the company is breaking the law. If they are, the company can get in big trouble and be made to change the way they treat people who work for them.

So basically, the Employment Discrimination Law helps make sure that anyone who wants to work can do it fairly and without being treated unfairly because of who they are.