Understanding Racial Discrimination in the Workplace

Racial discrimination refers to the treatment of someone — an applicant or employee — in an unfavorable manner because of his or her race or any personal characteristics associated with race, such as hair texture, skin color, or facial features. Color discrimination specifically involves treating someone unfavorably solely because of skin color, meaning the person’s actual pigmentation, complexion, or skin tone.

Furthermore, racial and color discrimination also refers to the unfavorable treatment of someone because they are in any way associated with someone who is a certain race or color. This kind of discrimination can occur between people who are of different ethnicities and have different color skin – or between people who are of the same ethnicity and have the same color skin.

In 2019, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 23,976 charges of race discrimination and 3,415 charges of color discrimination. Racial discrimination was the fourth-highest category of workplace discrimination that year.

The mistreatment of an individual due to their race or skin color is considered discrimination because it violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of race and color, as well as national origin, sex, and religion. The law applies to businesses with 15 or more employees, and protects against discrimination in all aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, benefits, and more.

Additionally, Title VII protects against discrimination of an applicant or employee who may be affected by a condition that predominantly affects a specific race, such as sickle cell anemia, unless this particular policy is job-related and necessary for the business’s day-to-day operations.

Discrimination because of one’s race or color can be seen in many different ways. These are five common examples of how racial and color discrimination might occur in the workplace:

• Harassment
• Recruiting/Hiring
• Compensation/Employment Policies
• Segregation/Classification of Employees
• Pre-Employment Inquiries and Requirements

Let’s look further into each of these types of racial or color discrimination in the workplace.

Examples of racial discrimination in the form of harassment include any kind of offensive or derogatory remarks about race or color — sometimes referred to as “racial slurs” — the display of racially offensive symbols, and physical conduct.

Offhanded jokes or isolated incidents that are not seen as too serious are not prohibited by the law. If the incidents become more frequent or severe, and the victim feels uncomfortable in their work environment or experiences an unfavorable employment decision, such as being fired or demoted, it becomes unlawful.

If an employer lists job requirements that exclude people of a certain race or color and are not considered important for the job at hand or general business needs, it is considered race or color discrimination. Examples include an employer only accepting job applicants from a source in which the potential applicants are of the same race or color, requiring applicants have a certain level of education that is not deemed necessary for the job, and testing applicants for knowledge, skills, and abilities that are not necessary for the job they are applying for.

All job requirements and application processes must be consistent and apply to anyone, regardless of race or color.

Compensation and other employment terms such as hiring, firing, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, and benefits are protected under Title VII. An employer cannot base any of these things on a person’s race or color. Additionally, all company policies and practices must apply to every employee, regardless of their race or color. If the policy has nothing to do with the job or business and negatively impacts people of a certain race or color, it can be illegal.

The acts of segregating or classifying employees based on their race or color are prohibited by Title VII. This applies to a variety of things, including physically separating employees from other employees or customer contact, assigning minorities to predominantly minority establishments or locations, excluding minorities from certain job positions or only allowing minorities to work specific jobs, and using race as a motivator to make business decisions.

Race and color can never be listed as a job qualification, and it is also unlawful for an application or resume to be coded according to the applicant’s race. “Coding” refers to any kind of code that can implicate a person’s race, such as using an area code for a geographic location where the majority of residents are racial minorities.

It is important to note that applicants’ and employees’ race is sometimes needed for permissible reasons like affirmative action purposes. This must be done separately from the application paperwork and interview so that it cannot be used in the decision-making process. If pre-employment information is requested that discloses the applicant’s race, it could suggest that the information given will be used during the hiring process and could be considered when making employee selections. Pre-employment questions about race or color should not be asked unless the information is needed for legitimate reasons.

Employees have 180 days to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission if they believe they have been discriminated against due to their race or color. This Charge of Discrimination is a signed statement that says an employer, union, or labor organization has engaged in employment discrimination and requests that the EEOC take remedial action. The 180-day time limit is extended to 300 days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis.

The EEOC has a user-friendly portal on its website, available to the public, that allows people to file a claim, find their closest EEOC office, and obtain information and guidance about the process of filing a claim.

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