Discrimination due to race, age, sex, pregnancy, national origin, marital status, color, religion, or disability is illegal in Florida under the Florida Civil Human Right Act. Employees are protected from this type of discrimination if their employer has 15 or more employees (and in some counties, five or more employees). The employee must demonstrate that he or she was treated differently than those of a different race, sex, religion, national origin, age, or other protected status under the same circumstances. If only people of a particular race, etc. have been terminated for a particular violation, where others have only been warned, this would be discrimination.
There are two different agencies where discrimination claims can be filed. One is the state agency, the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR), and the other is federal, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The two agencies cooperate with each other to process claims so you usually just need to file with one, and they will cross file with the other.
Depending on which agency you file with, will depend on how long you have to file. There are strict limits on time. Federal Law says you must file within 300 days from the date the discrimination occurred and the FCHR has a longer limit of 365 days. However, you should not wait to file until the last minute and although it is not essential to contact a lawyer in order to actually file your claim with one or both agencies, it is normally in your best interests to do so.
