In the past, racism was grossly overt and repugnant. Slavery, segregation, Native American history, and internment camps are just a handful of blatant racism in our country’s history. Fortunately, that kind of racism is no longer practiced but unfortunately, racial discrimination still exists here in Inland Empire and other areas across California. One of the places that racism hits people the hardest is in the workplace because people need their jobs and most of them do not have the luxury of just walking away from discriminatory workplace conduct.
We need our jobs to survive and provide for our families, but for some people, racial discrimination can make it difficult to secure employment or advance in their employment. Racial discrimination can result in not being able to get a job, not being able to keep a job, or not being able to secure fair compensation. Fortunately, California’s laws protect people from racial discrimination and allows remedies and compensation for victims of workplace discrimination. If you are a victim of race or color discrimination, contact our Inland Empire racial discrimination attorney at Rager & Yoon – Employment Lawyers to discuss your remedies and recovery options.
Racial discrimination in the workplace
Racial discrimination in the workplace occurs when decisions that impact someone’s job or potential job are based on race. Racial discrimination that impacts employees and job candidates may result in not hiring, failing to promote, demoting, and unfair compensation. Evidence of racial discrimination can also be shown when an employee is not offered benefits, privileges, or training that are offered to other employees. Employer’s policies that have a disparate impact on particular races also may be evidence of racial discrimination.
Harassment
Racial harassment is prohibited in the workplace, but that does not mean that it does not still happen. Workplace harassment often occurs in the following ways:
- Supervisors or coworkers making offensive or derogatory jokes or comments about another employee’s race or the color of their skin.
- Offensive symbols or photos posted or used in the workplace.
- Racial slurs used in the workplace.
- Offensive touching that is tolerated by the employer and not reprimanded.
Racially motivated harassment is illegal in the workplace and it makes for a hostile work environment for minorities or members of a particular race.
Other protected classes
In addition to race and color, other classes that are protected from discrimination under California law include:
- Religion
- Sex and gender
- Gender identity and gender expression
- Sexual orientation
- Medical conditions and health conditions
- Marital status
- Military status
- National origin
- Ancestry
- Mental and physical disability
- Age
- Pregnancy, pregnancy related conditions, and maternity leave
If you have been discriminated against in the workplace, contact our Inland Empire racial discrimination attorneys to schedule a consultation. Our attorneys will aggressively advocate for victims of racial and other types of discrimination. There are remedies and damages available for victims of workplace discrimination such as job hire or reinstatement, promotion, attorney fees, lost wages and lost future earnings, emotional distress, punitive damages, and policy changes.