• Maryland has state labor discrimination laws in addition to federal regulations.wanted image by Imagenatural from Fotolia.com
  
  Labor discrimination laws make it illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee or applicant on the basis of certain factors. The federal government has enacted employment discrimination laws, but states, such as Maryland, have enacted stricter rules to govern employers. The law can be applied to cases of discrimination in hiring and firing but also extends to discrimination in all aspects of employment, such as promotions, transfers, compensation, benefits, job advertisements and training programs.
  
  

Employers

• In Maryland, employers with 15 or more employees are subject to Maryland labor discrimination laws. Employers with fewer employees may be covered under county law in Maryland.
  
  

Protected Classes

• The classes protected by Maryland labor discrimination laws include marital status, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, race, color, gender, religion, national origin and age. Disability must be unrelated in nature to the duties required by the job. Employers cannot ask employees questions related to these classes during the interview process. Newspapers are not allowed to publish discriminatory advertisements for employment, and labor unions cannot deny membership based on protected classes.
  
  

Complaints

• In Maryland, employees who wish to file a complaint against an employer for labor discrimination must do so within six months of the offense or within six months of the time that the employee learned of the offense.
  
  

Individual Supervisors

• Maryland labor discrimination laws allow individual supervisors to be charged with discriminatory acts. New York and Michigan use similar laws to hold supervisors responsible for discrimination committed under their watch.
  
  

Penalties

• The state of Maryland puts a cap on the amount of compensation that can be awarded to a plaintiff in an anti-discrimination lawsuit. The amount depends on the size of the company and can range between $50,000 and $300,000 as of 2010. The court may also assess court costs, legal fees and witness fees to the employer, according to the website of attorney Stuart L. Plotnick.