Los Angeles Racial And National Origin Discrimination Lawyer

Racial discrimination in the workplace is illegal and should not be tolerated. Discrimination based on race or other similar protected statuses, such as ancestry, national origin, or color, can take many forms and is not always overt, obvious, or even intentional.

Laws Protecting Workers from Racial Discrimination

Many federal and state laws protect employees against racial discrimination. 

At the federal level, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides that it is unlawful for employers with fifteen or more employees to discriminate against anyone because of the individual’s race, color, or national origin. This includes refusing to hire or discharging someone based on race. 

Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), employers with five or more employees cannot discriminate against an individual on the basis of race, color, national origin, or ancestry. 

Types of Racial Discrimination in the Workplace

Racial discrimination typically shows up in two forms: disparate treatment and disparate impact. 

Disparate treatment means that an employee is treated less favorably than another simply because of the employee’s membership in a protected class. An obvious example is when employees of a particular race are routinely denied a promotion. This type of preferential treatment must be based on race or another protected status. 

To prove a claim for disparate treatment under the FEHA, an employee must establish that the employer discharged (or constructively discharged), refused to hire the employee, or otherwise subjected the employee to an adverse employment action, and that the employer’s conduct was substantially motivated by the employee’s race or other protected status. 

Disparate impact refers to an employer’s policy or practice that may appear neutral, but unfavorably impacts a protected class. In these cases, the racial discrimination may not be intentional. The employer may have had a justified business necessity or reason for the policy.

Common Signs of Racial Discrimination in the Workplace

Obvious signs of racial discrimination, such as the use of racial slurs, may not exist in all cases. Other common signs include:

• Offensive comments and jokes
• Statements based on race or color
• Displaying racially offensive or insensitive symbols, images, memes, objects, or news articles
• Isolating employees from tasks, duties, or physical areas
• Denying a promotion or any other benefits of employment
• Denying other employment opportunities, such as training
• Lower pay or benefits
• Purposely assigning more demeaning, laborious, or difficult tasks
• Excessively criticizing work performance or providing harsher feedback
• Selectively enforcing rules or policies, such as dress code

Why Hire a Racial Discrimination Attorney

When there are no obvious signs of racial discrimination, it is difficult to prove that the disparate treatment was because of the employee’s protected status, or that the employee’s status was a substantial motivating reason behind an adverse employment action. It is not sufficient for the employee to belong to a protected class or status, and the employee must prove that the adverse action was caused by that membership.

For example, an employer may claim that an employee who is a member of a minority racial class was not promoted because of that employee’s performance history. An experienced race discrimination lawyer can help establish that it was the employee’s race, and not performance, that was the reason behind the denial of a promotion.

 How Can a Los Angeles Pregnancy Discrimination Attorney Help My Case?

Pregnancy discrimination may be difficult to perceive or prove because it may often be subtle or discrete. For example, if someone is not hired for a position, one can only assume that it may have been because that person was pregnant. 

An experienced pregnancy discrimination attorney helps an employee identify the potential claims and ensures the valuations of those claims are fair and proper under the circumstances.