Discrimination in Employment

In the United States, there are laws prohibiting employment discrimination at the federal as well as the state level. Most states also have their own employment discrimination laws, generally called fair employment practice laws, which are virtually the same as the federal laws. While the state laws may be stricter than the federal laws, they cannot be less strict. Therefore, some state laws have added categories not included in the federal law or included less stringent thresholds for application of the laws (e.g., requiring an employer to have only 4 employees before the law applies rather than 15). Some states have added categories such as marital status, sexual orientation, physical appearance, or political affiliation as a basis for employment discrimination. State claims are generally handled by the state's fair employment practice agency (Takaki, 55).

Applicants or employees who believe that they have been victims of illegal discrimination have a right to take their claim to the enforcing agency to seek redress. For violation of federal laws, this is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Claims are handled by the EEOC free of charge (though if claimants wish to engage an attorney, they may do so at their own cost). Handling of claims may involve mediation, investigation, or adjudication, as appropriate. If the applicant or employee is not satisfied with the EEOC's final decision on the claim, he or she can then generally seek relief in a federal court. If the employee is found to have been discriminated against by the employer or someone working for the employer, he or she may receive as a remedy, as appropriate, reinstatement, back pay, front pay (for failure to hire because of discrimination), compensatory damages, punitive damages, restoration of lost seniority, injunctive relief, or other relief as the agency or court deems appropriate (Nelson, 43).

Race discrimination against blacks was actually the main impetus for passing the Civil Rights Act, though the law applies to everyone. Before passage of the law, there had been a formal and informal system of racial segregation against blacks known as “Jim Crow,” which had been in place since shortly after the Civil War ended. Racial segregation was complete and total. For instance, employment classified advertisements were divided by race and gender. The Civil Rights Act outlawed this practice (Kay, 63).

Race discrimination has greatly diminished since the passage of the act but remains the reason for the majority of claims received by the EEOC. Many of the claims are for systemic, widespread discrimination rather than individual discrimination. That is, employers have allowed blacks to be paid less, not advance at the same rate, and generally be treated more poorly than other similarly situated, nonblack (usually white) employees. Racial harassment is also a type of race discrimination, where an employee is harassed on the basis of his or her race. Discrimination on the basis of color (rather than race) has seen fewer claims, and they are generally filed by blacks who allege that others of their race receive better treatment because ...