Racial Discrimination: Its Roots and Forms

Some people are likely to believe that their race is superior to others. These beliefs have led to the death of thousands and even millions across the globe.

Historically, World War II started due to Hitler’s quest to show humankind that Germans were far superior. This ended brutally, making people realize that humans are created equal and would therefore need to have equal rights. 

Experts in the field of human interaction, on the other hand, called the act of humiliating or maltreating people belonging to different race as racial discrimination.   Some of the elements that constitute this are the following:

·         Color

·         Race

·         National Origin

The law specified under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its corresponding amendment in 1991 strictly forbids racial discrimination in the United States. This country was said to have been created due to the involvement of different states, and it would therefore be a violation to its creation if people discriminate one another. 

HIV/AIDS in Employment is nothing New

Recently, a wrongful termination lawsuit was filed against The Ivy, a Los Angeles restaurant famous for its high-end customers such as Hollywood stars like Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton, and Jennifer Aniston.

Reymundo Martinez, its former employee, filed the lawsuit at the California Supreme Court with the help of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

The reason: he was allegedly discriminated against and terminated by The Ivy for being HIV-positive.

Martinez worked at The Ivy for five months as a busser. During his stint at the restaurant, on December 2010, he was diagnosed with HIV. He took medication after a month, but the drugs’ strong side effects forced him to stay home for a day. However, The Ivy management told him not to return to work for the remainder of the week.

His doctor promptly requested The Ivy to facilitate Martinez’s request on work schedule change. However, the restaurant management denied Martinez accommodations. He was terminated immediately.

Martinez is yet another victim of discrimination for being HIV-positive. This also shows that employment discrimination on the basis of medical condition is not new in the society. A lot of cases concerning people with HIV or AIDS have been brought up to people’s consciousness ever since the disease was made known to the world in the 1980s.

Common Issues that Happen in the Workplace

A person’s lifetime is mostly spent on work. For the first-time employee, the fact of being employed is a fun way to gather work experience, wherein he or she gets to deal with quality-oriented tasks and with people around him or her.

Along the way, he or she may experience competition, wherein the possibility of getting promoted or earning a salary increase hangs in the balance. With good attitude and working experience, the person may be well on his or her way to achieve a good standing in the company. This, in turn, can create a decent working environment for all people in the workplace.

Workplace issues

However, working on a job, especially in the corporate setting, is not without its issues. Poor management of most employment aspects, such as hiring, termination, and allocation of wages may lead to unforeseen incidents.

Working relationships may get out of hand because of this. For instance, the professional relationship between the employer and the employee may become affected, especially if the former takes advantage or does something wrong to the latter. Also, working relationships between co-workers may become affected, wherein gossip and personal issues may decrease the employee’s ability to perform well.

Here are some issues that are common inside the workplace:

·         Harassment – Harassing someone can come in many forms. It could be done to inflict physical harm, as in physical harassment. It could also be done through verbal communication which could hurt the feelings of the person; as in verbal harassment. Display of actions or materials of sexual nature, or sexual favors in exchange for employment benefits, constitute sexual harassment.

·         Discrimination – Either it is done in an act or a spoken word, employment discrimination has been one of the growing problems in U.S. Biases in all the aspects of employment, including hiring, allocation of tasks, distribution of compensation, and termination, constitute discrimination. It usually involves jokes, comments, gestures and slurs that are distasteful to the protective classes, including physical or mental disability, age, race, sex, and nation of origin.

There are other workplace issues that are usually forms of misconduct, such as unfair wage allocation, acts of retaliation from the employer, and wrongful termination. Such issues must be dealt with accordingly by the victim through the help of an employment law attorney.

How to File a Discrimination Charge with the EEOC

Employment discrimination is still a rampant problem these days. Many applicants and employers are still discriminated against in all aspects of employment, including hiring and termination. Good thing there is one federal agency that is ready to lend a helping hand on discrimination victims by enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws against erring employers. This agency is called the EEOC, or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

A person who believes that his or her rights as an applicant or an employee had been violated may file a discrimination charge with the EEOC. Not only can one person do it; even an organization or an agency can do so. Collective effort in filing a charge may be done on behalf of the victim. This is to help protect his or her identity.

In filing a charge with the EEOC, the person or the group may first fill out an intake questionnaire. Complainants who need accommodation, such as a sign language interpreter, must immediately inform the EEOC so that arrangements can be made accordingly.

In the actual filing of the discrimination charge, the complainant or the complaining party must provide the following information:

·         The complaining party’s name, address, and telephone number

·         The employment agency, respondent employer or employment agency’s name, address, and telephone number

·         The number of employees or union members involved, if there is any

·         The date, location, and a short description of the alleged violation of employment rights

The complainant/s must first file a discrimination charge with the EEOC first before taking on a private lawsuit. This will only apply if the EEOC does not find any violation on the part of the employer.

Strict limits are implemented on the filing of charges. The complainant/s whose employer violated a federal employment law must file a charge within 180 days from the day of the alleged violation. The deadline is extended if the charge is also covered by a state and/or local employment law. For charges related to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), only state laws extend the filing deadline to 300 days.

Things to Consider before Filing a Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

It is normal for  a lot of employees to be mad if they got terminated. The first thing that might enter their minds is why it happened, especially if they did not do anything wrong.

It might be a bit of a relief on the part of the former employees to file complaints so as to  alleviate their anger towards the person responsible for their illegal termination.

However, making a claim is not always as easy as it may seem to be. It takes a lot of thinking and analysis on the aspects that may make or break the claim. It is important to understand certain policies that will create a great impact on the result of the incident.

In dealing with illegal termination, former employees have to know about the following so as to deal with the case properly:

1. It would not make sense to file a complaint at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) if the applicant has worked for the employer for just a short period of time. Also, if the EEOC believes that the applicant will not have a hard time looking for another job, the complaint will probably not progress.
2. Getting a great lawyer is not that easy. It would take a lot of time, money, and effort to  find a lawyer who can professionally and successfully handle the case.
3. Evidence and witnesses are necessary in the litigation process. They are important to prove that wrongful termination took place.  As an advice, contact a top notch lawyer in your place to guarantee that you will get favorable results.
4. Any accurate reason can be used to prove the employer’s wrongful conduct.
5. The process of litigation or filling a complaint can be very draining in terms of mental, physical, and emotional aspects.   With this, it is important to go into the legal battle very much prepared.
6. Filing a wrongful termination lawsuit or complaint can affect the future job hunting of the complainant. It may delay his or her application, as further investigation may be done by the prospective employer.

What actually is “Reasonable Accommodation”

Employment discrimination has been continuously occurring in spite of the implementation of different employment laws that cater to the interest and protection of employees. Taking into account reasonable accommodation, it is defined as allowing an employee with disability to perform specific function in the same manner as employees with disability.

Meanwhile, an employer carries the responsibility of making reasonable accommodations for the employee’s disability. In other words, an employer is the one who must make adjustments in order to fit the interest of the disabled employee.

Reasonable accommodations often include:

·   Restructuring the job or duties to allow the disabled employee to do the job

·   Permitting the disabled employee to have vacation for medical reasons

·   Providing the disabled employee with a qualified reader or interpreter

·   Changing the work schedule to suit the comfort of the disabled employee

·   Putting in special equipment to help the employee do his or her duties, such as wheelchairs and ramps

·   Allowing the disabled employee to take additional unpaid leave for medical purposes

·   Moving the disabled employee to a vacant position or to a temporary light-duty position

Pregnancy-related Protections under Title VII

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) prohibits any act of discrimination on the basis of childbirth, pregnancy, or related medical conditions, including unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII. This provision covers employers with 15 or more employees, as well as state and local governments.

Under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, PDA also applies to employment agencies, labor organizations, and the federal government. Also, women who are pregnant or were affected by pregnancy-related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with the same abilities or limitations.

Here are the protections provided by Title VII:

Hiring. Any employer should not deny application of a pregnant applicant only because of her condition and other pregnancy-related stipulations, or because of the discrimination done by co-workers, customers, or clients.

Health Insurance. Any health insurance provided by employer must cover expenses for the employee’s pregnant condition on the same basis as costs for other medical conditions. However, in cases of abortion, an employer does not need to provide health insurance, except where the mother’s life is endangered.