Legal Question in Discrimination Law in Indiana

Re: relatives receiving special treatment

It depends. If your hours and responsibilities are being reduced on a pretext for an unlawful reason, then you may have a claim. Employers generally may not take adverse action against employees because of their membership in a protected group defined by race, sex, age, religion, national origin, disability, for making a complaint of discrimination based on one of the foregoing, taking of protected FMLA leave, filing bankruptcy, filing a claim for workers' compensation, or for refusing to commit an illegal act. On the other hand, if your employer has given your hours and responsibilities to the office manager's brother-in-law -- not for any of the above reasons, but because of nepotism, you probably do not have a case. That is because nepotism, while unfair, is not against the law. My only cavet would be that if your employer has a rule against nepotism, you should ask why it is not being followed in this case and then get back to me.

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