Workplace discrimination can threaten your income, reputation, and career. The Lacy Employment Law Firm helps Philadelphia employees evaluate unfair treatment, preserve important evidence, and understand their legal options.
 It may appear as a blocked promotion, unequal discipline, a sudden negative review, reduced hours, denied accommodations, or termination after years of strong performance.
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Our attorneys examine what changed, how similarly situated employees were treated, what decision-makers said, and whether the employer’s stated explanation matches the evidence. Â
We assist workers throughout Center City, University City, South Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, Northeast Philadelphia, and surrounding communities.
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Whether you work in health care, education, finance, hospitality, logistics, retail, technology, professional services, or the public sector, your case deserves a careful review based on the evidence and applicable law.
 Not every unfair workplace decision is illegal discrimination. A potential claim generally involves an employer taking negative action because of a protected characteristic, such as race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, or religion, or because the employee engaged in protected activity.
Examples may include unequal pay, denied promotions, harsher discipline, harassment, refusal to consider an accommodation, or termination.
 Keep copies of relevant emails, text messages, performance reviews, disciplinary notices, pay records, schedules, accommodation requests, employee handbook provisions, and complaints made to management or human resources.
Write down important events while they are still fresh, including dates, comments, witnesses, and how comparable employees were treated. Do not take confidential records that you are not legally permitted to access.
 Many employment discrimination claims require an administrative filing before a lawsuit can proceed. Depending on the facts, the appropriate agency may be the EEOC, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, or the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations.
The correct filing path depends on the employer, the location, the protected characteristic involved, and the law supporting the claim. Philadelphia’s civil rights agency accepts and investigates employment discrimination complaints under city law.
 Employment claims have strict deadlines. EEOC charges generally must be filed within 180 days, although that deadline may extend to 300 days when a state or local agency enforces a law prohibiting the same type of discrimination. Different claims and agencies may use different deadlines.
Waiting for an internal investigation, grievance, mediation, or human resources response does not necessarily pause the filing deadline. Speak with an employment attorney promptly.
 An employer may not lawfully punish you for reporting suspected discrimination, participating in an investigation, filing a charge, supporting a coworker’s complaint, or requesting a disability or religious accommodation.
Possible retaliation can include unjustified discipline, increased scrutiny, reduced hours, an undesirable transfer, a negative evaluation, harassment, or termination. Whether an action is retaliatory depends on the timing, evidence, and employer’s stated reason.
