Federal law prohibits racial discrimination in the workplace. However, the nature of the workplace is changing in the digital era. With more and more Americans working remotely, employees need to remember that racial discrimination laws still apply.
You have legal rights if you’re a remote worker who’s experienced racial discrimination. Protecting your rights requires understanding when illegal discrimination is occurring.
What is Racial Discrimination?
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law prohibiting employers from engaging in racial discrimination. Generally, workplace racial discrimination involves unequal treatment of certain employees based on their race. The law also prohibits discrimination based on an employee’s ethnicity.
Racial discrimination in the workplace can take many forms. The following are just a few common examples:
- Not hiring employees of a certain race
- Excessively disciplining employees of a certain race
- Allowing employees to be subject to racial slurs or other forms of verbal mistreatment
- Allowing employees to be harassed due to their race
- Not offering promotions or raises to employees of certain races
- Not allowing employees of certain races to participate in professional development opportunities
That’s not an exhaustive list. If a worker in the U.S. believes they’ve been the victim of illegal racial discrimination in the workplace, they can file a complaint accordingly.
How to Recognize Racial Discrimination in the Remote Workplace
Racial discrimination may look different when you’re working remotely when compared to how it manifests in an office or other such traditional work environment. However, it can still occur.
Unequal treatment is the most common sign of racial discrimination in the workplace. Whether you’re working remotely or not, you may have a case against your employer if they treat employees differently based on their race, particularly if some employees are disadvantaged by such unequal treatment.
Be aware that an employer also doesn’t need to directly display signs of racism to engage in racial discrimination. For example, perhaps an employer’s policies unfairly disadvantage workers of a certain race. Even if they didn’t intend for such policies to have this effect, you may nevertheless have a case against an employer in these circumstances.
Build Your Case
You need to present a strong case when accusing an employer of racial discrimination. Ways to potentially gather evidence of racial discrimination when working remotely include:
- Document every instance of potential discrimination by noting the time and date, along with a description of the incident
- Save chat logs, text messages, and any other forms of correspondence that might support your story
- Obtain copies of performance reviews and other relevant documents
- Speak with witnesses who can corroborate your account
How A Racial Discrimination Attorney Can Help
Holding an employer accountable for racial discrimination in a remote workplace can be challenging. You may improve your odds of winning a case if you enlist the help of a racial discrimination attorney to handle such matters. To find out more about what a racial discrimination attorney can do for you, take the Free Case Evaluation today and speak with an independent lawyer who subscribes to the website and may be able to help with your case.
