A member of a group that is marginalized in some
way and not okay to
joke about. Basically you can't make jokes (or employment decisions) based on any of the following variables: race, color, religion, national origin, age (
40 and over), sex, veteran status, employment status, pregnancy, citizenship, having a family, having disabilities, and last but not least;
DNA content.
So pretty much everybody is protected in some way.
Person
1: Get a job you lazy
fuck.
Person
2: You can't say that. Unemployed persons are a protected class.
Person 1: How else am I supposed to tell you that you are a neanderthal?
Person
2: Did you really just make a comment about my
DNA status? That's also a protected class. Go look up protected classes.
Person 1: looks it up that literally means that everybody in the world is a protected class in some way.
Person
2: I know. Isn't it great? Everybody is special!