Have you encountered racial harassment at work? Does your employer constantly pass over you for promotions because of your race? Do you have evidence that your manager singles you out for disciplinary action because you represent a minority in the workplace?
Despite being outlawed for nearly 60 years, racial discrimination in the workplace continues to take place at job sites located throughout the United States. Discrimination based on race can be obvious, such as having to deal with jokes and taunts that focus on a worker’s racial heritage. It also can be much more subtle, as in the form of discrimination that caused you to lose income or fail to achieve a certain professional status.
If you are a victim of racial discrimination in the workplace, you should contact a racial discrimination attorney who specializes in enforcing the provisions written into a monumental civil rights law.
What is a Racial Discrimination Attorney?
A racial discrimination lawyer handles cases that address a wide variety of discriminatory practices in the workplace that focus on a worker’s racial composition. At the heart of racial discrimination law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against workers because of a wide variety of demographic factors, including gender, religion, and sexual orientation. One of the most litigated types of discrimination in the workplace concerns race.
How Can a Racial Discrimination Attorney Help?
Knowing the answer to the question, “What does a racial discrimination attorney do” starts at the free case evaluation you have with an employment lawyer. The attorney you meet with examines the evidence you bring to the meeting to determine whether you have experienced racial discrimination at work. Taking legal action against your employer requires you to demonstrate either your employer directly discriminated against you or condoned racial discriminatory practices that were implemented by a manager or co-worker.
Collects and Organizes Evidence
Physical evidence can be difficult to gather for any type of discrimination case. However, your legal counsel is responsible for reviewing human resources documents that verify your professional credentials. Copies of the results of performance reviews, as well as the emails sent by one or more of your managers, can provide your racial discrimination attorney with more than enough evidence that your employer violated provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Interviewing witnesses that include your co-workers can support your claim that racial discrimination took place at your job.
Calculates Monetary Damages
Most workers that suffer from racial discrimination in the workplace sustain financial losses because of the unlawful acts. Losing out on a promotion or failing to receive a much-deserved wage increase represents economic losses that you have the right to recover. As opposed to the direct costs of economic damages, non-economic damages such as pain and suffering do not come with a price tag. However, mental anguish and emotional distress can derail your life and cost you a considerable amount of money. A lawyer for racial discrimination at work calculates non-economic damages by including the value of economic damages in a commonly used formula. You also have the right to seek punitive damages, which the judge hearing your case has the legal power to award for deterring future acts of racial discrimination in the workplace.
Finding a Racial Discrimination Attorney
After you learn the answer to the question, “What does a racial discrimination attorney do,” the next step in the search process is to hire a lawyer who specializes in handling racial discrimination cases.
Ask for referrals from trusted friends and family members. Networking, whether it includes a neighbor or a professional colleague, can simplify the search process. If you are close to any attorneys, ask for recommendations of lawyers that practice employment law.
Another helpful source for finding a racial discrimination attorney is to access the website run by your state’s bar association. Every state bar association runs a website that provides legal resources for victims of a wide variety of illegal actions that include racial discrimination. Click on the icon to a page called “Find a Lawyer,” and you can input criteria into the search engine to narrow your search to a few attorneys.
Receiving feedback from former clients can cement your decision concerning which racial discrimination attorney to choose for representation. Contact former clients for feedback about how well an employment law attorney represented them during a legal action involving racial discrimination. You also should read the reviews left by former clients on popular sites such as Yelp and Google.
For more information about how an employment lawyer can help you, fill out the free case evaluation.
