Documenting discrimination at work — how to recognize and record it
Published July 20, 2026
The short answer
Discrimination at work is being treated worse because of who you are — your race, color, sex, pregnancy, religion, national origin, age, disability, or another protected characteristic. It can show up in a decision — who gets hired, paid more, promoted, scheduled, disciplined, or let go — or in comments that reveal the reason behind a decision.
It's often indirect, which is what makes documentation so important. You rarely get told outright that a decision was about your age or your race. Instead you see the pattern: the same people passed over, the same groups given the worst shifts, a comment dropped in a meeting, a 'reason' that doesn't fit the facts. Recording each piece — the decision, the date, who made it, what was said, and how you were treated compared with others — is how an indirect pattern becomes something concrete.
This page won't tell you whether what you experienced meets the legal definition of discrimination — that's what the EEOC and your state's fair-employment agency are for, and they're linked below. What it can help you do is capture the facts: the decisions, the comparisons, and any comments, with their dates. Note how it affected your work and pay, as evidence of impact.
rippedoffworker is not a law firm. What it does is let you log each decision and comment with its date and details, so a factual, dated record exists in one place — ready for whichever body or adviser you choose to bring it to.
Common signs
Any one of these can have an innocent explanation on its own — it’s the pattern, recorded with dates, that becomes clear over time.
Decisions that track identity
Who gets hired, paid, promoted, or scheduled lining up with race, sex, age, or another trait.
Revealing comments
Remarks about your age, accent, religion, pregnancy, or disability tied to a work decision.
Different rules for different people
Standards applied to you that aren't applied to others.
Being passed over
Repeatedly overlooked for roles or hours despite being qualified and available.
Sudden change after disclosure
Treatment shifting after a pregnancy, a diagnosis, or a request for accommodation.
Segregated assignments
Certain groups steered into the worst shifts, roles, or areas.
What you can do
- 1
Record each decision that affected you — pay, hours, promotion, discipline, firing — with its date and who made it.
- 2
Note how you were treated compared with others in a similar role, and who they are.
- 3
Write down any comments that revealed a reason tied to who you are — exact words, date, and who said it.
- 4
Save documents: job postings, pay information, schedules, emails, and reviews.
- 5
Keep the language factual and specific; avoid guessing at motives you can't show.
- 6
If you reported it, record when, to whom, and the response.
- 7
Note the effect on your pay and work, as evidence of impact.
- 8
Store the record somewhere private and beyond the employer's reach.
Where to get help
These are real, outside sources of help — official agencies and personal support, not this app. For the rules and complaint routes, start here.
EEOC
The federal body that handles workplace discrimination based on protected characteristics — https://www.eeoc.gov.
Your state fair-employment agency
Many states have their own agency and their own deadlines; see your state's page.
A trusted person or adviser
A legal aid service, an adviser, or someone you trust can help you weigh your options — outside this app.
In plain terms
- Discrimination
- Being treated worse because of a protected characteristic.
- Protected characteristic
- A trait such as race, sex, pregnancy, religion, national origin, age, or disability covered by the law.
- Comparator
- Someone in a similar role treated differently — useful for showing unequal treatment.
- Reasonable accommodation
- A change to how or where you work that may be required for a disability or religion — see the EEOC.
Where rippedoffworker comes in
The guide tells you what to do — the app does it with you.
rippedoffworker helps workers of every kind — hourly, salaried, gig and contractor, and commission-based — log the hours, pay, and treatment as they happen. It builds a dated record over time: unpaid or underpaid wages, missing gig or commission earnings, missed breaks, off-the-clock work, and mistreatment or retaliation — soyour own figures and the pattern behind it are organized in one place, ready to take to the people who can help.
rippedoffworker is a record-keeping tool, not a law firm, and does not give legal advice. Any amounts are arithmetic on the figures you entered — apparent, not a guaranteed or legally determined amount.