Going to work has started to feel different, maybe even unsafe, and you cannot shake the feeling that it has less to do with your performance and more to do with who you are. Maybe a manager who used to praise your work is now looking for reasons to write you up. Maybe your hours were cut after you told HR you were pregnant, or you were suddenly replaced by a much younger coworker after comments about your age.
When those changes pile up, many Indiana workers find themselves asking the same hard question: Is this just unfair, or is it illegal employment discrimination? That is a stressful place to be, especially if you depend on the paycheck, worry about retaliation, or feel like you do not have direct proof. Understanding how the law defines discrimination and what it protects is the first step to deciding what to do next.
At Biesecker Dutkanych & Macer, LLC, our practice is built around protecting employees who are facing discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in Indiana and across the Midwest. Our attorneys bring more than 50 years of combined experience in employment law, from agency charges to courtroom litigation, so we have seen many of the patterns you may be experiencing. In this guide, we walk through the most common types of employment discrimination in Indiana and the protections available, in plain language, so you can see where your situation may fit.
What Employment Discrimination Means Under Indiana and Federal Law
Employment discrimination is a legal term, not just a description of unfair treatment. At its core, it means your employer is taking adverse actions against you because of a protected characteristic, not because of legitimate business reasons. An adverse action can include firing, demotion, loss of hours, pay cuts, denial of promotion, or significant negative changes in your job duties or schedule. It can also include decisions in hiring, training, and access to opportunities.
For Indiana workers, discrimination protections come from both federal law and Indiana statutes. Federal laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), protect employees nationwide when certain conditions are met, including a minimum number of employees at the company. Indiana’s civil rights laws add another layer of protection for workers within the state. In practice, this means many Indiana employees have overlapping rights, and which law applies can affect the process, deadlines, and potential remedies.
Discrimination covers much more than just firing. Refusing to hire someone because of their race, paying women less than men for the same work, denying a qualified disabled worker a reasonable accommodation, or consistently skipping over older employees for promotion opportunities can all fall under discrimination, depending on the facts. The law recognizes both “disparate treatment,” where you are intentionally treated worse because of a protected trait, and “disparate impact,” where a seemingly neutral policy hits a protected group much harder in practice.
Many employees assume that unless they have a direct admission, like an email saying “we are firing you because of your age,” they have no case. In reality, discrimination cases are often built on patterns and timing. At Biesecker Dutkanych & Macer, LLC, our day-to-day work involves examining things like inconsistent explanations, changes in performance reviews, and how similarly situated coworkers are treated, to determine whether what is happening looks like unlawful discrimination under Indiana and federal standards.
Protected Traits in Indiana: Who the Law Actually Covers
The law does not cover every personal characteristic. It focuses on specific protected traits. Under federal law, core protected classes include race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age for workers 40 and older, disability, and genetic information. In practice, protections for sex discrimination also extend to issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity under current federal interpretations.
Indiana civil rights protections align with many of these federal categories in the employment context, covering areas such as race, color, religion, sex, disability, national origin, and ancestry. Depending on the size and type of employer, some claims proceed primarily under federal law, some under state law, and some under both. There can also be local policies or company-level protections that go beyond the legal minimum, but the backbone of most claims rests on these protected traits and how they are treated at work.
To see how this plays out, consider a few examples. A pregnant Indiana worker who is denied a temporary schedule change for a doctor-approved restriction, even though similar flexibility is given to others recovering from sports injuries, may be facing sex or pregnancy discrimination. An employee born outside the United States who is mocked for their accent and consistently assigned less desirable shifts, while others with similar seniority get better schedules, may be dealing with national origin discrimination. A worker with a documented medical condition who asks for a modest accommodation, like a stool or remote work one day per week, and is punished instead of engaged in a real dialogue, may have a disability discrimination issue.
Sorting out whether your situation falls within a protected category is not always obvious. Many workers focus on the unfairness, not the legal hook. Part of our role at Biesecker Dutkanych & Macer, LLC is to listen carefully to the facts, identify which protections may apply, and explain how Indiana and federal law interact in your specific setting, whether that is a small local business or a large multi-state employer.
Common Types of Employment Discrimination Indiana Workers Face
Although protections are written in broad terms, discrimination on the grounds tends to follow recognizable patterns. Indiana employees often describe similar kinds of fact patterns when they call us, even if they work in completely different industries. Understanding these patterns can help you recognize whether what you are experiencing may be more than just a rough patch at work.
Some of the most frequent issues we see involve race and national origin discrimination, sex and pregnancy discrimination, and discrimination based on age or disability. In each of these categories, bias rarely shows up as someone openly saying, “We do not want your kind here.” It is more common to see shifting explanations, double standards, exclusion from opportunities, and decisions that do not line up with an employee’s track record.
Over the decades, our attorneys have handled discrimination matters for workers in manufacturing plants, healthcare systems, logistics operations, retail, professional services, and many other settings across Indiana. That experience helps us spot red flags that employees often discount, such as a sudden change in performance critiques after you speak up about a protected issue, or a seemingly neutral rule that is enforced much more harshly against certain groups.
Race & National Origin Discrimination
Race and national origin discrimination can be both blatant and subtle. Some workers endure racial slurs, offensive jokes, or derogatory comments about their background from coworkers or supervisors. Others report being consistently assigned to less favorable territories, shifts, or customer-facing roles, even when they have similar or better qualifications than peers. Unequal discipline is another common sign, such as a Black employee being terminated for a mistake that results in only a warning for white coworkers.
National origin discrimination can include harassment about someone’s accent, assumptions that they are “not a good fit” for front-line positions, or stricter scrutiny of their paperwork when others are given the benefit of the doubt. It is important to remember that the law protects all races and national origins. For example, a white worker in a majority-minority workplace who is punished for dating someone of another race may also have a viable claim, depending on the details and overall context.
Sex, Pregnancy, and Gender-Based Discrimination
Sex discrimination covers a wide range of conduct. Indiana workers sometimes see it in pay, when women discover they are paid less than male peers for substantially equal work, or in promotions, where key opportunities repeatedly go to men despite stronger performance records from women. It can also appear in performance expectations, such as punishing women for being “too assertive” while rewarding similar behavior in male peers, or assuming women are not interested in demanding roles because of family responsibilities.
Pregnancy is a major flashpoint. A worker who announces a pregnancy and then suddenly receives negative reviews for long-standing habits that were never a problem before may be experiencing illegal bias. So may a pregnant employee who is denied light duty despite being medically restricted, while non-pregnant workers with temporary injuries receive accommodations. Issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity can appear as denial of benefits for same-sex partners, harassment about someone’s gender expression, or policies applied in a way that targets transgender workers, such as restroom or dress code rules enforced unevenly.
Age and Disability Discrimination
Age discrimination typically affects workers who are 40 or older. We hear from Indiana employees who have been told their employer wants “fresh faces,” “new energy,” or wants to “modernize the team.” On their own, those comments may not prove discrimination. But when they accompany a pattern of older workers being pushed out, passed over for training or promotion, or replaced by much younger hires, they can be powerful evidence that age is driving decisions.
Disability discrimination often revolves around reasonable accommodation. A worker with a documented condition might ask for a simple change, such as an ergonomic chair, a modest shift adjustment, or occasional remote work. Employers are expected to engage in an interactive process to see what can be done without causing undue hardship. When, instead, the employer reacts with hostility, ignores medical information, drags out the process, or uses the request as an excuse to sideline or terminate the employee, that behavior may cross the legal line.
Harassment & Hostile Work Environment vs. Ordinary Workplace Conflict
Many Indiana workers struggle to tell the difference between illegal harassment and an unhealthy, but not unlawful, workplace. The law generally defines harassment as unwelcome conduct based on a protected trait that is severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile or abusive working environment. The focus is on the frequency and seriousness of the behavior, and whether it would make a reasonable person in your position feel intimidated, degraded, or unable to perform their job.
A single offhand comment, while unprofessional, usually will not meet this standard. On the other hand, repeated sexual jokes after you have asked them to stop, regular use of racial slurs in your presence, or constant mocking of your disability can add up quickly. The status of the person doing the harassing also matters. Harassment from a supervisor, especially when tied to threats about your job, can be more serious than similar comments from a peer because your livelihood is directly at stake.
It is also important to consider how the employer responds once it knows about the problem. If you report harassment tied to a protected trait and the company does nothing meaningful, or worse, retaliates against you instead of addressing the behavior, that can strengthen a legal claim. We speak with many employees who downplay what they are going through because “it is just how this place is,” yet when we walk through the frequency, content, and impact, it looks very much like a hostile work environment under the law.
At Biesecker Dutkanych & Macer, LLC, we routinely review timelines of comments, emails, text messages, and complaint records for workers throughout Indiana. Our job is to help you assess whether what is happening is likely to be seen as severe or pervasive harassment connected to a protected trait, or whether your best options may be internal, non-legal steps. That kind of analysis is hard to do on your own when you are in the middle of the situation.
Retaliation: When Speaking Up Leads to More Problems
One of the biggest fears employees have about reporting discrimination or harassment is retaliation, and that fear is not unfounded. Retaliation occurs when an employer takes adverse action against you because you engaged in protected activity, such as complaining about discrimination, assisting with an investigation, or filing a charge with an agency. The law recognizes retaliation as a separate and serious violation because workers need to be able to come forward without being punished.
Retaliation can take many forms. Some are obvious, such as sudden termination a week after you submit a written complaint to HR, or a demotion shortly after you participate in an investigation. Others are more subtle, like being reassigned to the worst shifts, losing overtime opportunities, being excluded from key meetings, or receiving poor reviews for the first time in years, immediately after raising concerns. The timing between your protected activity and the employer’s response often becomes a central issue in these cases.
Importantly, retaliation can be illegal even if the original discrimination claim is not ultimately proven, as long as you raised it in good faith. The law is designed this way because employees need some protection even when they are mistaken about whether the conduct is illegal. Unfortunately, we often see employers respond defensively, documenting workers heavily after a complaint, or treating them differently in ways that are hard to ignore and difficult to explain as a simple coincidence.
When we advise Indiana workers, we pay close attention to retaliation risk. We discuss the pros and cons of internal complaints, how to word them, who to send them to, and what to watch for afterward. That practical guidance, informed by years of seeing how companies and their lawyers react, can be just as valuable as explaining the black-letter law, especially if you are still employed and trying to protect both your rights and your livelihood.
How Indiana Employees Can Document and Protect Their Rights
If you suspect discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, you may feel a strong urge to act immediately. At the same time, moving too quickly or without a plan can make things harder. Thoughtful documentation and timing can significantly affect how strong your case appears to an agency, a court, or a company’s decision makers.
Start by keeping a personal timeline of key events. Note dates, who was involved, what was said or done, and any witnesses. Save work-related emails, performance reviews, text messages, memos, and policy documents that relate to your concerns, as long as you are allowed to access them in the normal course of your job. Be careful not to take confidential company information you are not authorized to have, especially sensitive customer or trade secret data, because that can create separate issues.
Internal reporting is another major decision point. Many Indiana employers have HR departments, ethics hotlines, or written complaint procedures. Using these channels can help create a record that the company was on notice of the problem. However, it can also trigger the kinds of defensive behavior and retaliation we discussed earlier. Before filing a detailed internal complaint, many workers find it useful to talk through their options with an employment attorney, particularly in high-stakes roles or when they already expect pushback.
On the external side, many discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims must go through an administrative agency such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Indiana Civil Rights Commission before a lawsuit can be filed. There are strict deadlines, often counted in months rather than years, for filing these charges. Which agency to file with, what to include in the charge, and how to coordinate with any internal complaint process can all affect your case and potential remedies.
At Biesecker Dutkanych & Macer, LLC, we offer a free initial consultation so Indiana workers can review their documentation, understand the timing rules, and choose a strategy before sending anything that is hard to retract or revise. In that conversation, we can discuss whether an internal complaint, an agency charge, or a different approach makes the most sense for your situation and risk tolerance.
Why Working With a Focused Employment Law Firm Matters
From the moment you raise a discrimination or harassment concern, your employer may be getting guidance from its HR professionals and lawyers. Policies, investigation plans, and documentation strategies are often shaped behind the scenes to limit the company’s exposure. Without experienced counsel of your own, it is easy to feel outmatched and to underestimate how your words and choices today will be viewed months later.
Discrimination and retaliation cases are intensely fact-driven. Small details about timing, language in performance reviews, who knew what when, and how others were treated in similar situations can make a significant difference. That is why our partner-level, personalized approach matters. At Biesecker Dutkanych & Macer, LLC, our clients work directly with an attorney who handles employment cases, not just support staff, so the strategy reflects their exact history, goals, and risk tolerance.
Our attorneys bring over 50 years of combined experience in high-stakes workplace disputes, and we handle employment matters across Indiana and neighboring states like Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Ohio. That multi-jurisdictional reach is especially important for employees of regional or national companies whose operations and policies cross state lines. We are familiar with how these larger entities respond to claims and how to navigate overlapping laws and forums when a dispute spans more than one jurisdiction.
Peer recognition, such as AV Preeminent ratings from Martindale-Hubbell and Indiana Super Lawyers Rising Stars honors, reflects the respect our attorneys have earned from other lawyers and judges. For a worker facing a powerful employer, those signals matter because they indicate that your legal team is taken seriously when negotiating or litigating discrimination and retaliation claims.
Talk With an Indiana Employment Discrimination Attorney About Your Options
Learning the definitions of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and seeing how they show up in real Indiana workplaces, is an essential first step. The next step is applying those rules to your story, your documents, your timeline, and your goals. No article can do that for you, and no online checklist can replace a conversation about what is happening in your specific job and industry.
If you believe you are facing employment discrimination in Indiana, you do not have to figure this out alone or guess at deadlines. At Biesecker Dutkanych & Macer, LLC, we offer a free, confidential consultation where you can walk through what has been happening, get a clear sense of whether the law may have been violated, and discuss a plan for protecting your career and future. Call (888) 424-9253 to reach out to us to talk through your situation and your options.