Race Discrimination

February 16, 2018

I’m Being Discriminated Against at Work Because of My Religion

If you are being treated differently at work based on your religious beliefs or practices, you may be a victim of religious discrimination. In the United States, individuals are protected – by federal law – against this type of discrimination in the workplace.

It is common for victims of religious discrimination to also be discriminated against for other unlawful reasons, such as race or country of origin. A Muslim immigrant from Iraq, for example, may be discriminated against for his religion, but also due to his dark skin (race) and his Middle Eastern origins (culture).

Which Religions are Protected?

Religion encompasses religious beliefs, practice, and all aspects of observance. For the purpose of workplace discrimination, the religion in question doesn’t need to be traditional, such as Christianity or Judaism. In fact, the individual’s religion can be comprised of entirely unique beliefs, as long as they are meaningful and sincere. A MA employment law attorney can help you protect your rights if you’ve been discriminated against at work due to your religious beliefs.

In most cases, workplace discrimination based on religion falls into one or more of the following categories:

Religious preference-based employment decisions
Religious preference-based harassment
Failure to provide reasonable accommodations for religious practices

Examples of Workplace Religious Discrimination

As with any type of discrimination, religious discrimination can take many forms. Common examples include:

Hiring, firing or promoting an individual based on religious faith, or lack thereof. An example of this type of discrimination would be firing an employee because she is an Orthodox Jew and can’t work on Saturdays.
Harassing an individual based on their religion. This can take the form of mocking an employee, or asking them to remove religious clothing because it violates the company dress code.
Failure to provide necessary accommodations. This the most common type of religious discrimination in the workplace. An example of failure to accommodate occurs when an employee is refused his request to display a religious icon on his desk.

Cases of discrimination based on religion have skyrocketed in recent years. According to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), religion-based claims increased by 41 percent between 1997 and 2015. A Boston workplace discrimination attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been discriminated against at based on your religion. Continue reading

November 13, 2017

New Web Portal Allows Individuals to File Employment Discrimination Charges Online

by Altman & Altman

With the Equal Employment Commission’s (EEOC) new web portal, filing a workplace discrimination charge just got easier than ever. According to the EEOC, the portal was created in response to an increasing demand for the agency’s services. In 2017, the EEOC responded to more than 140,000 inquiries and 550,000 calls. The EEOC hopes that the portal will provide a more efficient way for people to contact the agency, as well as to sign and file an employment discrimination charge.

The portal, which has been piloted in multiple EEOC offices across the country, allows the public to file a charge online. From there, the individual can provide additional information, upload supporting documents, check on status, and even agree to mediation.

“This secure online system makes the EEOC and an individual’s charge information available wherever and whenever it is most convenient for that individual,” said Victoria A. Lipnic, EEOC acting chair. “It’s a giant leap forward for the EEOC in providing online services.”

What is Employment Discrimination?

Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, employment discrimination was legal, and occurred with shocking frequency. Although workplace discrimination and harassment are now illegal, they still rear their ugly heads from time to time. In fact, employment discrimination still affects hundreds-of-thousands of workers every year. Fortunately, today’s legal protections help bring justice to victims of workplace discrimination. A Boston employment discrimination attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been discriminated against at work.

Common Types of Employment Discrimination

Employment discrimination takes many forms. If you are discriminated against based on your membership in a protected class, you may have a successful discrimination lawsuit on your hands. The most common types of unlawful employment discrimination are based on:

Age: Individuals age 40 and above are protected against age-based discrimination by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
Disability: Employees with qualifying disabilities are protected by Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
National origin: It is unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to discriminate against an employee or prospective employee based on their country of origin, accent, or ethnic background.
Pregnancy: Pregnancy discrimination is a form of sex discrimination, and is prohibited under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
Race: Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employees are protected from race-based discrimination, including harassment or discrimination related to the employee’s skin color, perceived race, and interracial relationships.
Religion: According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers may not treat employees differently based on their religion, religious beliefs, or participation in religious activities.
Sex: In addition to sexual harassment, sex-based discrimination includes any type of different treatment related to the employee’s sex, such as paying a woman less than her male counterpart. Sex-based discrimination is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Fortunately, it is also unlawful for an employer to retaliate against an employee for filing a discrimination claim, testifying, or participating in an investigation into employment discrimination. A MA workplace discrimination lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been the victim of discrimination at work. Continue reading

July 6, 2017

Racial Discrimination in the Workplace

by Altman & Altman

Do you believe that you are being discriminated against at work? Is the discrimination due to your race, or the color of your skin? In 2017, racial discrimination still occurs with shocking frequency. Unfortunately, proving it isn’t always an easy task. The article below provides tips on the different types of racial discrimination and how to substantiate your case. An experienced Boston employment law attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you are being discriminated against at work.

Direct Discrimination

This is the easiest type of discrimination to recognize. When an employer, supervisor or co-worker makes obviously racist remarks with no attempt at hiding their intent, this is direct discrimination. This is the easiest type to prove, but it’s also quite rare. Knowing the consequences, few people will make blatantly racist jokes and comments in the workplace. But it does happen from time to time.

Indirect Discrimination

This type of discrimination is more common. For example, if everyone gets a bonus except Bob, who happens to be black, the employer may claim that it’s because Bob is too new. Is that racial discrimination, or is Bob actually too new for a bonus? The good news is, the answer can usually be discovered with a bit of leg work, including research of employment policies and the company’s past handling of similar situations. A MA employment law attorney can help you uncover the evidence necessary to back up your claim.

Harassment

Consider the following example of racial harassment: Dave is Asian. Dave is constantly scolded in front of his co-workers for not leaving his workspace clean when he heads home for the day. At first Dave thinks his employer must be a perfectionist, and he begins emptying his trash bin twice a day, wiping dust off his computer screen, and washing out his personal coffee mug every evening. But the scoldings continue. When Dave looks around, he realizes that his cubicle is far cleaner than any other cubicle at his place of employment. Is Dave being harassed because of his race? It’s very possible.

What Discriminatory Practices are Prohibited?

If you experience discrimination related to any of the following aspects of employment, you are protected under Title VII of the ADA, GINA, and the ADEA.

Hiring process
Terminations and layoffs
Compensation
Job postings
Promotions
Transfers
Testing
Training
Retirement plans, benefits, and disability

June 8, 2017

The Alleged Toxic Atmosphere of the Uber Workplace

by Altman & Altman

In a particularly challenging year for Uber, the company behind the driver-for-hire app has terminated over 20 employees in an effort to deal with accusations of sexual harassment and other issues. On Tuesday, Uber made an internal announcement to its 12,000 employees about the decision, following a long list of complaints from former employees.

215 Workplace Incidents

According to reports, a total of 215 claims of workplace incidents have been filed against Uber. The breakdown of these complaints, in order of frequency, is as follows:

Discrimination
Sexual harassment
Unprofessional behavior
Bullying
Other types of harassment
Retaliation
Physical security
Wrongful termination

An internal investigation into these claims is currently underway. Since the investigation began, Uber has fired 20 employees, and another seven have received a final warning. According to the ride-hailing tech giant, 57 claims are still under review and no action is being taken in 100 of the claims. A Boston employment law attorney can help you determine how to move forward if you’ve been a victim of workplace sexual harassment.

Blogging about Harassment

Most of the complaints originated in the company’s San Francisco headquarters, but complaints have come from Uber locations across the globe. Following former employee Susan Fowler’s claims on her blog that she experienced gender bias and sexual harassment while working for Uber, the company’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, launched the internal investigation.

The news of the firings is just the most recent in a string of scandals that have been plaguing Uber for months. Earlier this year, the company’s senior vice president of engineering was asked to resign when Uber discovered that he hadn’t disclosed past allegations of sexual harassment. Ed Baker, another Uber exec, left the company abruptly under unknown circumstances in March.

Technology Theft and Bad Business Practices

And that’s not all. Google’s self-driving car company, Waymo, has brought a lawsuit against Uber, accusing the company of stealing its technology. As a result, Anthony Levandowski, an Uber engineer who had previously worked for Google, was fired last month. Beyond the lawsuits and allegations of workplace misconduct, Uber is also battling an image of bad business practices, such as the use of a tool designed for the purpose of evading regulators.

Is Uber in Denial?

“(Fowler’s) blog shocked me,” said Liane Hornsey, the head of Uber’s HR. “But, what did surprise me, was when I did the listening sessions, this didn’t come up as an issue. It wasn’t one of our big themes. Other things came up that are in that area, that our values are masculine and a little aggressive, but the harassment issue, I just didn’t find that at all.” A MA employment law attorney can help you recover damages if you’ve been harassed in the workplace.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Uber is far from the only company with sexual harassment issues. This type of inappropriate workplace behavior is actually quite common. A study of 500 respondents and 92 U.S. companies produced the following results:

Approximately 54 percent (272) of respondents had been the victim of some type of workplace sexual harassment.
Of those, 27 percent had experienced harassment by a colleague, and 17 percent were harassed by a
Women made up the majority of harassment victims at 79 percent.
Of those harassed, 12 percent claim to have received threats of termination if they refused the advances and requests of their harassers.

April 11, 2017

Racial Discrimination in the Massachusetts Workplace

by Altman & Altman

Racism is still a problem in this country. In some situations, it’s blatantly obvious; more often, however, racism is subtle and harder to identify. This is especially true of racial discrimination in the workplace. For example, an employer may fail to hire an individual based on his race, but claim the decision was based on another factor, such as attitude or lack of experience. A MA employment attorney can help if you believe you’ve been a victim of racial discrimination.

What is Discriminatory Intent?

Whether racial discrimination in the workplace is obvious or subtle, there are multiple federal and state laws prohibiting this type of discrimination in any form. In many cases, identifying – and proving – racial discrimination can be difficult. But sometimes, an employer inadvertently displays discriminatory intent.