LGBT Community at Greater Risk for Workplace Discrimination

August 18, 2011 – Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees report more discrimination in the workplace than their heterosexual counterparts, according to new research from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.  A 2008 survey reveals that 42 percent of LGB respondents said they had experienced employment discrimination at some point in their lives, and 27-percent had experienced it during the five-year period before the survey.

According to the survey, LGB employees who are open about their sexual orientation are more likely to experience discrimination than those who are not—38 percent of LGB respondents who were out at work claimed to experience employment discrimination in the five-year period, compared to only 10 percent of those who weren’t out.  Perhaps that is why the study found that only one third of LGB employees disclose their sexual orientation at the workplace.  And the transgender community is perhaps at even greater risk for gender identity discrimination, which can be evidenced by this population’s high poverty and unemployment rate, according to one researcher.

If you believe you are the victim of sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination in the workplace, call the Philadelphia discrimination lawyers of Sidney L. Gold & Associates, P.C. today for a free assessment of your job discrimination claim. We understand the complexities of the federal anti-discrimination laws, as well as the state and local protections available in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Our sexual orientation discrimination attorneys will work tirelessly to ensure that the wrongs suffered by you are remedied and you receive the compensation you deserve to the full extent provided for under the law.