Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. Discrimination in this context refers to the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of these groups.Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong Discrimination, the intended or accomplished differential treatment of persons or social groups for reasons of certain generalized traits. All complaints should be filed within 30 days of the act of discrimination ("act of harm") to begin the "informal" counseling ("pre-complaint") process. Discrimination occurs when an employee or job applicant receives less favorable treatment because of a specific characteristic they have. A charge of discrimination is a signed statement asserting that an organization engaged in employment discrimination. The code also addresses issues related to discrimination in housing. In general race is defined as a person's ancestory or ethnic background. Often racial and ethnic prejudice lead to discrimination against the subordinate racial and ethnic groups in a given society.