How do I know if I've been discriminated against?

Discrimination, in the employment setting, typcially is used to describe something unlawful like not promoting someone based on his or her race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, or other characteristic that is protected under the Federal and state civil rights laws. If you believe your employer is withholding the pay or other term or condition of your employment for an unlawful reason such as race, gender, age, etc., then you typcially have an obligation to bring it to the employer's attention according to the policies of your employer for such complaints. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has information on this law and how to file complaints if you feel this is the issue. Your state should also have an agency that provides information on state rights and remedies. Evidence of discrimination is typcially remarks showing a particular negative feeling about the protected characteristic, such as offensive remarks about one's race, or perhaps a decisionmaker saying the reason for not giving you hours is related to this characteristic. Absent some comment directly related to the protected characteristic, you usually have to rely on the circumstances and show that other similarly situated employees outside your protected characteristic were treated better than you.