You can file a complaint and pursue a discrimination claim at the Commission on Human Relations if you believe you have been personally harmed. Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation.Discrimination is the unjust or different treatment of a person on the basis of a protected characteristic under the law. Workplace discrimination is against the law when it happens because you are a member of a protected class. The meaning of DISCRIMINATION is prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment. How to use discrimination in a sentence. Discrimination, the intended or accomplished differential treatment of persons or social groups for reasons of certain generalized traits. Discrimination is usually the behavioral manifestation of prejudice and involves negative, hostile, and injurious treatment of members of rejected groups. Thus ethnic and racial attitudes have become more complex than they were in the past. Prohibited Discrimination.