Can you take action for being fired because you are in a relationship?
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Can you take action for being fired because you are in a relationship?
I am a 21 year old female who got hired as an assistant to a CEO of a non-profit business. Everything was going great and there were a lot of verbal promises made by the CEO about my future with the company. As soon as I revealed that I had a boyfriend, everything completely changed. I was immediately told to go home and the next day was ignored when I showed up to work and was told to go home early again. Once I left, I was locked out of all company websites that I previously worked on. Is there anything I can do?
Asked on October 12, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Arizona
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
You can legally be fired because you are a in a relationship: neither federal (national or U.S.) law nor your state's law protects your job due to your relationship status or prevents termination due to your relationship status. However, you cannot be fired as part of sexual discrimination. Sexual discrimination includes expecting women to be avaiable for relationships or sex, or terminating them if they are perceived to be unavailable. It is not impossible that you were terminated because by revealing that you were in a relationship, you indicated or implied that you were not romantically or sexually available to your employer. Based on what you write, it would be worthwhile for you to contact the federal EEOC and discuss the matter with them, so see if they think there is a basis for a complaint.
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