Dallas Employment Lawyer Blog
Dallas Senior Trial Attorney Deontae Wherry
Every Fourth of July, we celebrate the words that launched a nation: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Fireworks light the sky, families gather, and we honor the idea that no person is born above another. But behind the barbecues and parades lies a promise that Americans are still working to keep. The declaration that all people are created equal was not a description of the world as it was in 1776. It was a goal, a challenge handed down to every generation that followed. Nowhere is that challenge more alive than in the American workplace.
This year marks a milestone: 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. As we celebrate this 250th anniversary, we are reminded that the fight the Founders began is not finished. The words on that parchment set a standard we are still reaching for, and every generation, including ours, is called to carry it forward.
The Fight Lasting Centuries
When the Founders wrote about equality, the protection did not extend to most of the people living here. Enslaved people, women, and workers of every kind had few rights and little recourse. The story of American labor is the story of ordinary people insisting that the promise of equality apply to them, too. It took generations of struggle to win the rights some people now take for granted.
The eight-hour workday, the weekend, the minimum wage, child labor laws, workplace safety standards, the right to organize, protection from discrimination, these did not appear on their own. They were fought for, often at great cost, by people who believed that being created equal had to mean something on Monday morning, not just on the Fourth of July.
Because of that fight, workers today are protected by a framework of laws that would have amazed earlier generations. Federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, and genetic information. You cannot lawfully be paid less because of who you are. You are entitled to a workplace free from harassment. You have the right to take protected medical and family leave, to a safe working environment, and to fair pay for the hours you work. You also have the right to speak up about illegal conduct without being punished for it.
These protections are the modern expression of a very old idea. Equality on paper means little unless it is enforced in the places where people actually spend their days: the office, the warehouse, the store, the job site.
The Fight for Justice Still Remains
If the law already protects workers, why does the fight continue? Because rights on the books are not the same as rights in practice. Employers still discriminate. Workers are still fired for reporting harassment, denied fair wages, punished for taking leave the law guarantees, or pushed out because of their age, disability, or pregnancy. Some of the most persistent injustices are quiet ones, a promotion that never comes, a paycheck that does not match a coworker’s, a complaint that is ignored until the person who raised it is gone.
The promise that all people are created equal is not self-enforcing. Each generation has to defend it. When a worker stands up to say they were treated unfairly, they are doing exactly what the earliest Americans did: insisting that the country live up to its own words. That act of courage, repeated in courtrooms and complaint offices across the nation, is how the promise of 1776 keeps moving closer to reality.
The Fight That Requires All of Us
The idea that all people are created equal is the beating heart of the American experiment. But equality has never been a gift handed down from above. It has always been built from below, by people who refused to accept that unfair treatment was simply the way things had to be. Every worker who understands their rights, documents unfair treatment, and refuses to stay silent is carrying that torch forward.
As we celebrate 250 years of independence, it is worth remembering that the freedoms we enjoy extend to the workplace, and that they are still being tested every day. If you believe you have been treated unfairly at work, know that the law is on your side and that standing up for your rights is part of a long and honorable American tradition. The fight for justice remains because the promise is worth keeping.
If you think you are not being treated fairly in your workplace, please call my office. You do not have to face it alone, and standing up for your rights is exactly what this country was built to protect.
As the late Congressman John Lewis reminded us, sometimes you have to get in “good trouble, necessary trouble.” Speaking up when you have been wronged at work is exactly that kind of good trouble, and it is how the promise of equality keeps moving forward. Let’s honor those who came before us by refusing to stay silent.