ABA Family Legal Guide

Law and the Workplace

On the Job

Discrimination Based on Gender

May employers fire female workers who get married?

Title VII does not protect workers based on their marital status. However, if the employer fires only female workers who get married but not male workers, the employer has violated Title VII by engaging in disparate treatment sex discrimination--because it has applied an employment policy only to women.

Some states, however, such as Wisconsin, Oregon, and Illinois, have laws that expressly prohibit employment discrimination based on marital status. In those states, firing married workers would violate the law, even if the employer applied its policy to both sexes.