Federal employees are protected from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008; and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022.

These laws are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Generally speaking, under those laws it is illegal to discriminate in any aspect of employment, including: hiring and firing; compensation, assignment, or classification of employees; transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall; job advertisements; recruitment; testing; use of facilities; training and apprenticeship programs; fringe benefits; pay, retirement plans, and disability leave; or other terms and conditions of employment.

Employment discrimination practices under those laws include:

  • harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, disability, genetic information or age (as defined by the ADEA);
  • retaliation against an individual for filing a charge of discrimination, participating in an investigation, or opposing discriminatory practices;
  • employment decisions based on stereotypes or assumptions about the abilities, traits, or performance of individuals of a certain sex, race, age, religion, or ethnic group, or individuals with disabilities; and
  • denying employment opportunities to a person because of marriage to, or association with, an individual of a particular race, religion, national origin, or an individual with a disability.

Title VII also prohibits discrimination because of participation in schools or places of worship associated with a particular racial, ethnic, or religious group. The law prohibits not only intentional discrimination, but also practices that have the effect of discriminating against individuals because of their race, color, national origin, religion, or sex.

Rights grounded in civil service laws under Title 5, U.S. Code include those restrictions plus prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, labor organization affiliation or non-affiliation, status as a parent, or any other non-merit-based factor, as well as retaliation for exercising rights under the pertinent laws.

Gender Identity, Age Covered Under Employment Discrimination Rules

Office of Personnel Management guidance states that it is the policy of the federal government to treat all of its employees with dignity and respect and to provide a workplace that is free from discrimination, whether that discrimination is based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, political affiliation, marital status, membership in an employee organization, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, or other non-merit factors. That guidance covers matters including hiring, dress and appearance, work assignments, confidentiality, privacy, leave and insurance.

In Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (140 S. Ct. 1731, 2020) the U.S. Supreme Court held that claims of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity may be brought as claims of sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, effectively overturning a 2017 Justice Department opinion to the contrary.

Executive Order 13988 of 2021 committed federal agencies “to fully enforce Title VII and other laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.” (Note: Executive Order 14035 of 2021 further directed agencies to ensure that benefits including insurance and leave programs and agency-sponsored employee support programs equitably serve all individuals and families. Also see the Guidance Regarding Gender Identity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce at www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility/reference-materials.)

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects federal employees against workplace reprisals for filing age discrimination complaints. However, federal employees alleging age discrimination or reprisal for asserting age discrimination are not eligible to receive compensatory damages for pain and suffering and cannot receive attorney fees in the administrative process.

Public Law 111-2 of 2009 allows employees to challenge pay discrimination so long as the employee has received a discriminatorily-reduced paycheck with the applicable filing deadline. As a result, employees who might only have learned about discriminatory disparities in pay long after the pay-setting decision occurred may be able to seek a remedy through the EEO process.

The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to federal employees. Under the ADA, the determination of whether an individual has a disability is made on a case-by-case basis. The ADA limits the medical information that an employer can seek from a job applicant. An employer may not ask questions about an applicant’s medical condition or require an applicant to take a medical examination before it makes a conditional job offer. After making a job offer, an employer may ask questions about an applicant’s health and may require a medical examination as long as it treats all applicants the same.

The ADA requires employers to provide adjustments or modifications to enable people with disabilities to enjoy equal employment opportunities unless doing so would be an undue hardship (that is, a significant difficulty or expense). Accommodations vary depending on the needs of an individual with a disability.

An amendment to the ADA in 2008 retained the act’s basic definition of “disability” as an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment. However, it changed the way that these statutory terms are to be interpreted, for example by expanding the definition of “major life activities” covered, and providing that an impairment is covered unless it is transitory and minor.

Under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, it is illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants because of genetic information, which includes information about an individual’s genetic tests and the genetic tests of an individual’s family members, as well as information about any disease, disorder, or condition of an individual’s family members (i.e. an individual’s family medical history). It is also illegal to harass a person because of his or her genetic information; harassment is illegal when it is so severe or pervasive that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022 (effective June 27, 2023) made the federal government as well as larger private sector employers make reasonable accommodations for worker limitations arising from pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unless the accommodation would cause an undue hardship to the employer. Decisions on accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis but may include for example light duty assignments and other changes to workplace rules or practices. Employers may not deny a job or other employment opportunities based on the person’s need for an accommodation; or retaliate against someone for reporting or opposing a violation of the law or for participating in a PWFA proceeding such as an investigation into an alleged violation.