SALT LAKE CITY — Last year, Utah agencies saw a jump in the number of discrimination and retaliation claims in the workplace.
There were 519 retaliation charges in 2017, which was 66 percent more than the year before, and more than 18-hundred claims of discrimination, up by more than a third.
Protected classes include age, gender, race, pregnancy and national origin.
Utah attorney Lauren Scholick says if you feel discriminated against, you need to go to HR or up the chain
“Sometimes the employer will take the proper steps, and sometimes there is retaliation,” she said.
If the company does not fix the problem or they retaliate against you, then you can go to the Utah Anti-discrimination and Labor Division or the EEOC.
However, in Utah, if you work for a small company of fewer than 15 people, there is no cause of action. Her HB 283 aims to fix that this session.