This lesson provides students with real-world examples to help them identify peaceful ways to respond. Discrimination means, at a very basic level, the act of separating out singular things or groups of things.It can be both an adjective and a verb. Learn how to file a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. Learn how to file a discrimination or retaliation complaint with ED's Office for Civil Rights. Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. Discrimination is when one person is treated unequal from another based on their protected class, but not all unequal treatment is against the law. DoDEA Civil Rights Program is a collaborative process designed to help DoDEA recognize and take reasonable steps to eliminate unlawful discrimination. 1) Please fill out the complaint form, answering all of the questions. The Equalities Act is a law which sets out rules for employers, colleges, schools and services to follow to make sure everyone is treated the same.