If you’ve experienced a hostile work environment due to racial discrimination, you have the right to seek accountability from your employer and justice for the harm you’ve suffered. An experienced employment law attorney in Stratford, CT, can provide the legal advocacy and support you need.
Contact Mitchell, Sheahan & Slippen, P.C., for an initial case evaluation to discuss how our racial discrimination lawyers can help you seek legal and financial relief. Our team has the in-depth knowledge of state and federal employment discrimination laws needed to stand up for your rights and interests. We have a proven record of success at the negotiating table and in court and are committed to helping foster equitable Connecticut workplaces.
Understanding Racial Discrimination in the Workplace
Workplace racial discrimination occurs when an employee or job candidate receives unfavorable treatment from an employer, supervisor, or co-worker due to personal characteristics associated with race, including skin color, facial features, or hair texture. An employee or applicant may also face racial discrimination based on their marriage to or personal association with someone of a specific race. While most cases of racial discrimination occur between people of different racial backgrounds, this form of discrimination can also occur between two people of the same race.
State and federal law prohibit racial discrimination and harassment in the workplace. The law gives employees the right to pursue remedies for racial discrimination and harassment, such as requiring employers to eliminate the conditions that facilitated it, reinstating a worker terminated due to race discrimination, or providing financial compensation for an employee subjected to workplace discrimination or harassment.
Common Examples of Racial Discrimination in Employment
Racial discrimination occurs when an employer, supervisor, or co-worker takes adverse employment action against an employee or prospective employee based on race. Adverse employment actions can include:
- Refusing to hire a prospective employee
- Denying a promotion
- Denying bonuses or pay raises
- Reducing a worker’s pay
- Assigning an employee to less desirable job duties or work hours
- Denying training or other career advancement opportunities
- Denying fringe benefits
- Choosing employees for layoffs or reductions in force based on race
- Terminating an employee based on race
- Retaliating against a worker who files complaints of racial discrimination or harassment
Racial discrimination can also occur when employers adopt policies or practices that, although applicable to all workers, have an outsized negative impact on workers of a specific race and do not serve a critical function or operation of the business. For example, a policy on hairstyles that is not critical to the business’s operations may have a discriminatory effect when it disproportionately affects workers of specific races.
Racial harassment occurs when an employee becomes subject to actions or comments that are pervasive or severe enough to create a hostile work environment. It also occurs when harassment results in an adverse employment action against a worker. A hostile work environment occurs when the conditions of employment become so intolerable that no reasonable person would continue working in the environment. Common examples of harassing behavior include:
- Using racial slurs
- Making derogatory remarks about race or color
- Displaying racially offensive symbols or images in the workplace
- Asking offensive questions about a person’s race
- Making offensive jokes or pranks based on racial stereotypes
Racial harassment can come from a worker’s supervisor, a company manager or executive, a co-worker, and contractors or customers.
Employee Rights Under Racial Discrimination Laws
Federal law prohibits workplace racial discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees each working day in 20 or more calendar weeks in the year. Connecticut’s Fair Employment Practices Act also prohibits racial discrimination and harassment and applies to all employers in the state with one or more employees.
Under state and federal law, employees who face racial discrimination or harassment at work have the right to pursue various legal remedies. Employees can file complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO). These agencies can investigate worker allegations of racial discrimination and harassment. If an agency finds that discrimination or harassment has occurred, it can order an employer to take various steps to remedy the situation, such as adopting new policies to prevent future discrimination and harassment or reinstating a worker wrongfully terminated based on race.
The EEOC or CHRO can also issue a worker a “right-to-sue” letter, which allows the worker to file a discrimination or harassment lawsuit against their employer to seek relief from the courts. For example, they may pursue reinstatement or financial compensation for lost pay or emotional distress.
Employer Responsibilities for Preventing and Remedying Racial Discrimination
The law requires employers to adopt policies to prevent racial discrimination or harassment and respond promptly to worker allegations of discrimination. Employers should implement policies and employee handbooks that include anti-discrimination provisions. These provisions should expressly prohibit common discriminatory or harassing behaviors. Employer policies should also encourage workers to report suspected discrimination or harassment and implement procedures for investigating and taking appropriate action against discriminatory behavior.
How Mitchell, Sheahan & Slippen, P.C., Helps Protect Worker Rights Against Racial Discrimination
After experiencing racial discrimination in the workplace, let the legal team at Mitchell, Sheahan & Slippen, P.C., advocate for your rights and interests by:
- Investigating your discrimination or harassment claims to recover evidence supporting your case, including employment records, written communications, and witness testimony
- Sitting down with you to discuss your legal options and prepare you for what to expect during the legal process
- Documenting the losses you suffer due to discrimination or harassment, such as lost wages or emotional distress
- Filing your claims and representing your interests during administrative proceedings with federal and state regulators
- Preparing and filing legal actions on your behalf to pursue accountability from your employer, whether through a negotiated settlement or by taking your case to trial, if necessary
Contact Our Stratford Racial Discrimination Attorneys
When you’ve experienced racial discrimination at work, you have the right to hold your employer accountable for the financial loss or emotional suffering you’ve endured. Contact Mitchell, Sheahan & Slippen, P.C., today for a confidential consultation with a racial discrimination attorney to discuss your legal options.
Mitchell, Sheahan & Slippen, P.C., based in Stratford, CT, also serves clients in Fairfield County, New Haven County, Greenwich, Danbury, White Plains, and New York.