What federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin?

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits covered employers from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It is the central federal employment-discrimination provision in the landmark civil-rights statute signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964.

Title VII created a national framework for equal employment opportunity and established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce its protections. The law generally covers employers with 15 or more employees, subject to the statute’s detailed definitions and exceptions. It reaches decisions involving hiring, firing, promotion, compensation, workplace conditions, and other employment practices.

The statute has expanded through later legislation and judicial interpretation. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 clarified protection for pregnancy-related discrimination, while the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County held that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is discrimination “because of sex” under Title VII.

The alternatives address different protected interests: the Equal Pay Act focuses on sex-based wage disparities, the ADEA protects older workers, and the ADA addresses disability discrimination. Those laws complement rather than replace Title VII.