The United States has established laws outlawing discrimination based on race since 1888. Today, all states have anti-discrimination laws, and federal laws help provide protection for workers faced with discrimination.
Federal and state laws bar employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of race, color and national origin. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 established the right of employees to work free of intentional and unintentional discriminatory actions. The laws prevent discrimination of applicants for jobs, promotions and covers virtually all employees in the United States.
Race, color and national origin discrimination is identified as actions or behaviors detrimental to an employee or applicant based on the preconceived ideas held about the abilities, skills, worth or value of an employee based on physical characteristics.
Title VII protects applicants and employees from direct discrimination, but also protects against policies and practices that have a negative impact on one racial group, even when the policy is company-wide and affects all employees. The law also prevents racial harassment, which can include racial jokes and comments, when that conduct causes a hostile work environment.
Employees are protected from discrimination even when the discriminatory action is related to a characteristic not shared by all members of a group, such as red-haired people of Irish or Scottish decent, people with curly, black hair of African decent, and other physical characteristics often associated with members of a racial or ethnic group.
Typically, the law is viewed as a tool to prevent the discrimination of members of traditional minority populations by majority other-race employers, however the law applies to discrimination against majority populations and even covers discrimination by same-race employers.
Race vs. Color
The law does not differentiate between race and color, however court rulings have found that discrimination based on the tone of a persons skin is discrimination. Refusing to higher or promote an employee because of the relative lightness or darkness of their skin is a form of racial discrimination.
National Origin vs. Race
Discrimination based on a person’s perceived or actual nation of origin is illegal under Title VII and state law in Pennsylvania. The protections are intended to prevent employers from making hiring or promotion decisions based on where a person’s family is from, and includes protections against discrimination based on where an employer thinks someone is from, even if they are not. National origin discrimination is markedly different from race discrimination in that ethnicity and race are not the same. Employers who refuse to hire or promote employees because they believe the person belongs to an ethnic group are engaging in discrimination, even when the race of the person impacted is the same as their own.
Citizenship
It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against applicants or employees based on their citizenship status- provided they are authorized to work in the United States. Specific laws detail the needed documentation required to work in the US, and employers are not permitted to discriminate against applicants or employees in possession of the correct documents.
Additional Protections
Employees are protected from discrimination because of family members, friends and partners on the basis of race, color or national origin. These protections are intended to prevent unlawful employment decisions based on the perceived knowledge of the racial or ethnic background of people an employee associates with outside of work.
Racial Discrimination in the United States
When the Civil Right Act of 1964 was passed, discrimination against non-white Americans was rampant, particularly in regard to high-wage, white-collar jobs. This discrimination led to widespread unemployment and increases in crime as racially marginalized groups struggled to survive. Nationwide, unemployment sat at five percent. But for black Americans, the rate of unemployment was almost double, at 9.6 percent, and a workplace culture that held a stereotypical negative view made it more difficult to find a job and stay employed.
In passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress identified that allowing discrimination based on physical characteristics was detrimental to society and to the nations workforce. Much ground has been covered since 1964, but racially-motivated decisions are still common in many industries.
Unemployment rates tend to climb during periods of economic downturn, and as such, the number of racial discrimination cases tend to rise along with the unemployment rate. Black and Latino unemployment tends to rise faster than unemployment for white and Asian workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has tracked unemployment in the nation’s workforce since the 1930’s.
In the early 1980’s, the United States saw a period of declining wealth, rising inflation and the highest unemployment numbers since the Great Depression. Nationwide, unemployment had climbed to 10.6 percent, and nearly one in five black workers were out of work.
In 2008, the US entered another economic downturn, causing many businesses to lay off or fire employees in an effort to save money. In December, 2009, unemployment for white workers was nine percent, while black and Latino workers saw unemployment of 16.2 percent and 12.8 percent respectively.
Discrimination claims in that time period climbed drastically. In 2007, 82,000 cases alleging discrimination of all types were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency that handles discrimination claims. The years 2009-11 saw nearly 100,000 cases filed, and filings remained near or above 90,000 per year until 2017, when rising employment and an improving economy helped create more jobs. In 2018, 76,000 cases were filed alleging at least one type of discrimination.
Racial discrimination claims peaked in 2007 at 37 percent of all discrimination cases filed. An additional 11.4 percent of cases filed that year alleged discrimination based on national origin. Three percent of all cases filed alleged discrimination due to color.
Even as employment has climbed and the national economy has improved, filings of racial, color and national origin discrimination have stayed relatively even. In 2018, 32 percent of cases filed alleged racial discrimination, 9.3 percent alleged discrimination based on national origin, and 4.1 percent alleging color discrimination, the highest number recorded over the last 20 years.
Racial, color, and national origin discrimination continues to account for about half of all discrimination cases filed each year, indicating there are widespread problems in employment practices regarding race.
Proving Racial, National Origin or Color Discrimination
Proving that you have been discriminated against due to your race, color or national origin can be incredibly difficult.
In the most rare of cases, an employer will intentionally and blatantly discriminate against an employee or a group of employees because of race. An employer who sends an email or memo to a hiring manager telling them not to hire applicants from a particular racial group or nation of origin are committing intentional discrimination. These cases are extremely rare.
More common are discrimination cases in which an employer unintentionally discriminates. In cases where discrimination is alleged, but no direct evidence is available, claimants must meet certain requirements, beginning with filing a claim that shows prima facie discrimination. Prima facie is a latin word and legal term that means based on the first impression.
A claimant will need to show four aspects to have a valid claim. They must show they are:
- Member of a protected class
- Qualified for the position
- Discharged from the position, and
- Replaced by a non-member of the protected class
The protected class refers to employees who are defined by inclusion within a protected group, those being age, sex, race, color, national origin, disability or religion.
Once a claimant is able to demonstrate that they meet all of the above requirements, responsibility falls to the defendant to demonstrate that the adverse action taken against the employee was for a reason other than race. Employers will typically cite poor job performance, reprimands and other negative actions taken during the course of employment.
It is then the responsibility of the claimant to show that the reasons provided by the defendant for termination or other adverse action were not the result of the reasons given by the employer, but were motivated by racial discrimination.
Proving a claim of racial, national origin or color discrimination can be daunting and very difficult, and cases may drag out for more than a year, and even longer. Retaining a professional employment lawyer to assist in filing your claim will ensure you do not miss out on important benefits you are entitled to receive, and a good discrimination lawyer will ensure your case is filed correctly and within the statute of limitations.