Can a boss have different rules for certain employees?

Can an employer pressure some employees to work hard, while allowing other employees to do little work without penalty? Isn't this a form of discrimination?

For instance, our furniture store office mgr allows his assistant to text message, surf the internet, and talk on the phone to friends all day, with little or no work being done. In fact, his assistant's work is often handed to other workers to get done. If other workers are caught on the phone or internet, they are chastised and threatened with punishment.

Besides leaving the job, which no one can do in this economy...is there any legal remedy?

1 answer  |  asked Jul 13, 2010 7:00 PM [EST]  |  applies to New Jersey

Answers (1)

Fred Shahrooz Scampato
The only time such actions would violate our anti-discrimination laws would be if the boss was treating disfavored employees due to a prejudice that he had against them. In other words, if the employees who are not being favored are being treated this way because of their race, sex, gender, having a disability, the country that they come from, etc, then they may have an actionable claim. However, if prejudice really doesn't play a role in the actions ofthe mgr, then it is most likely that the anti-discrimination laws would not apply.

Lots of companies have handbooks and/or codes of conduct. You should review your company's employee handbook (if you have been given one or if one is online) and check to see if the mgr's actions are in violation of any of these policies. If they are, then the recommended course of action would be for you to contact a NJ attorney who focuses his/her practice in employment law, to help you addresss this issue.

posted by Fred Shahrooz Scampato  |  Jul 15, 2010 08:32 AM [EST]

Answer This Question

Sign In to Answer this Question

Related Questions with Answers

Have an Employment Law question?