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Discrimination in The Workplace

• Categories: Discrimination Social Justice Women's Rights

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Published: Mar 16, 2024

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Racial discrimination, gender discrimination, other forms of discrimination.

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Discrimination Problem in the Workplace

Introduction.

It is necessary to mention that discrimination in the workplace is a topic that has been actively discussed by scholars over the last few years and has drawn the attention of many researchers. The concept may be defined as unfair treatment of individuals based on the color of their skin, gender, age, disability, and other factors. Organizations that promote ethnic diversity have to deal with numerous challenges because some individuals are reluctant to cooperate and accept other traditions.

Maternal discrimination is a crucial issue because it limits the possibilities for personal and professional development. Unfair treatment at work also leads to a broad range of other complications such as worsened mood at home and depression. The primary argument is that the situation has improved in recent years, but discrimination in the workplace is still a critical problem because its impact may be subtle and can affect the life of a person in the long-term if a company does not consider preventive measures.

It is imperative to understand that an employer is not the only person that may treat people unfairly. Many individuals are not aware of which statements or words are appropriate, and could discriminate against others even if it is not intentional. A well-developed set of policies that includes the description of unacceptable behavior could help to avoid such issues (Robinson, 2013).

Another aspect that needs to be highlighted is that some minority groups may be biased towards each other, and it complicates the integration when individuals think that their presence is not appreciated. Possible communication problems may reduce the efficiency of operations, and job satisfaction levels are lowered if the environment in the organization is not supportive. Therefore, firms should devote much more attention to the promotion of tolerance and education of workers on this subject matter.

Maternal discrimination is particularly problematic because employers believe that performance levels of mothers are reduced significantly, and they are too worried about their children most of the time. One of the problems that should not be disregarded is that higher-ups appreciate if individuals overwork and are always available. On the other hand, a mother can be occupied because they have a broad range of responsibilities.

Moreover, many supervisors think that females are more likely to leave the job, and the company may waste money on training and education of such employees. However, such beliefs are mostly based on assumptions and do not reflect the actual situation. It is against the law to discriminate against people because of economic reasons most of the time, but an employer can provide such information to justify his or her actions in some cases.

The utilization of such techniques as performance management systems may be incredibly helpful when a firm is trying to prevent discrimination. The approach may minimize bias because employers would make decisions based on the comparison of available data. Endurance is the technique that mothers use in such situations most of the time, but it is ineffective in the long-term and does not facilitate changes in the workplace (Crowley, 2013). Overall, many companies undervalue mothers and their capabilities, and it leads to discriminatory behavior.

Complications associated with workplace discrimination also should be mentioned. For instance, it is noted that such experiences also have a direct impact on families of some individuals. Their children are more likely to abuse substances, and it frequently leads to psychological problems. One of the studies has shown that prejudice affects the way individuals perceive their children at home, and they are less likely to see positive behaviors because of dramatic changes in mood (Gassman‐Pines, 2015).

Parents understand that they should not get angry, and it is not their fault. However, the impact of inequity is so dramatic that it is impossible to manage emotions. Individuals may feel helpless in such situations because it is hard to prove unfair treatment, and they may be afraid that complaints would affect their employment status. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the management team to ensure that such instances are avoided. An anonymous reporting system may be established, and professionals can monitor the behavior of individuals that are suspected.

In summary, it is possible to state that modern society has made enormous progress when it comes to the reduction of discrimination in the workplace, but numerous instances of unfair treatment indicate that the problem still was not solved. Nevertheless, many companies have access to necessary resources and have developed efficient strategies that help them to minimize injustice. The understanding of associated terms is crucial because an employer may apply the knowledge in the workplace and come up with appropriate solutions (Abben, Brown, Graupmann, Mockler, & Fernandes, 2013).

This topic is incredibly important because many firms disregard the need to monitor the behavior of their workers, and it leads to severe consequences. Future research on this subject matter is necessary, and it would be reasonable to explore other dimensions of this problem. For example, it would be beneficial to evaluate the relationship between productivity and discrimination and the impact it has on decisions related to career.

Abben, D., Brown, S., Graupmann, V., Mockler, S., & Fernandes, G. (2013). Drawing on Social Psychology Literature to Understand and Reduce Workplace Discrimination. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 6 (4), 476-479.

Crowley, J. (2013). Perceiving and responding to maternal workplace discrimination in the United States. Women’s Studies International Forum, 40 (1), 192-202.

Gassman‐Pines, A. (2015). Effects of Mexican Immigrant Parents’ Daily Workplace Discrimination on Child Behavior and Family Functioning. Child Development, 86 (4), 1175-1190.

Robinson, D. A. (2013). Workplace discrimination prevention manual: Tips for executives, managers, and students to increase productivity and reduce litigation . Bloomington, IN: Archway Publishing.

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30 In Conclusion: Workplace Discrimination in Context

Eden B. King, Department of Psychology, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

Adrienne J. Colella, Freeman School of Business, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA

Hannah Markell Department of Psychology George Mason University Fairfax, VA, USA

• Published: 05 April 2017
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The chapters in this book address the factors that give rise to discrimination, its manifestations and consequences, and strategies for its reduction. In so doing, evidence is synthesized and future directions encouraged. Yet it is critical that these pages be interpreted in light of the context in which they were written. This concluding chapter identifies themes that emerge across chapters within the context of the particular time of their publication and in relation to a highly visible discrimination case. In so doing, it considers dual signs of social progress and retreat that relate to workplace discrimination and envision continuing uneven improvements in the future.

This book will be published, and must be interpreted, in the context of a dynamic social environment. This context is characterized simultaneously by both barriers to and progress toward equality in a number of domains. For example, the Supreme Court struck down a key aspect of the Defense of Marriage Act, granting same-sex couples the same benefits as opposite-sex couples ( United States v. Windsor , 2013 ), yet federal protection for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in employment settings does not yet exist. As another example, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg urged women to take ownership of their advancement opportunities by “leaning in” to their careers ( Sandberg, 2013 ), while New America Foundation President Ann Marie Slaughter cautioned that women still can’t have it all ( Slaughter, 2012 ). And, most recently, Ellen Pao unsuccessfully sued her former employer for sex discrimination in a case (2012) that has remarkable parallels to Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989).

These examples represent ambiguous signals of change that co-occur with continuing challenges in employment discrimination. We use the most recent case as a backdrop for describing three themes that emerge across chapters in this book. First, more than 50 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, workplace discrimination persists toward a number of targets. Second, this contemporary experience manifests in mostly subtle forms that are difficult to identify. Third, although organizations have a moral—if not legal—obligation to enact procedures that reduce discrimination and its consequences, the most effective ways of achieving this goal have not yet been discovered.

A Case Study: Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins

In 2012 Ellen Pao, a junior partner at the Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer, filed a gender discrimination suit against her employer for $16 million. Pao further claimed she was let go later in 2012 in retaliation for her gender discrimination suit. Though VC is a “clubby male dominated world” ( McBride, 2012 ), Kleiner is one of the best-known venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. It is also known for being one of the most female-friendly of the Silicon Valley VC firms ( Streitfield, 2012 ), thus rendering Pao’s claims even more profound and disheartening. As some of her supporters say, “If even Kleiner can have discrimination charges brought against it Silicon Valley is a grim place indeed” ( Streitfield, 2012 , p. 1).

Pao’s case contained claims of sexual harassment and a discriminatory culture making it nearly impossible for women to advance ( Marcotte, 2015 ). There were e-mails and Pao’s recollection of a particular fight with several male partners, that appeared to depict a “male locker-room” type culture at the company, in which women were not viewed as equals. For example, Pao recalls one male partner stating that “women kill the buzz,” and another saying that they should hire Marissa Mayer “because she is hot” as well as Pao’s own mentor saying that she had a “female chip on her shoulder,” and the exclusion of Pao and other women from “sitting at the table” ( Weise, 2015 ). However, the point on which the verdict hinged was the concept of subtle discrimination. Pao has said in an interview post-trial, “Women get criticized on both ends, and you have this needle that you have to thread, and sometimes it feels like there’s no hole in the needle. From what I’ve heard from women, they do feel like there’s no way to win. They can’t be aggressive and get those opportunities without being treated like they’ve done something wrong” ( Elder, 2015 ).

At Kleiner, male job applicants and employees were valued for their “cockiness” while Pao’s performance reviews called her “arrogant” and “brash” ( Tiku, 2015 ). Pao was given contradictory feedback in that she needed to be more of a “thought leader” but it appeared that in order to embody that role one needed to be male. The defense depicted Pao, now interim CEO at Reddit, as “cold, territorial, untrustworthy, entitled and either passive-aggressive to colleagues or maybe just aggressive—the sort of person who an office that depends on relationships would be crazy to promote to a senior role” ( Streitfield, 2015 ). Ultimately, Pao lost the suit, although the jury was just one vote short on the claim of her termination resulting from retaliation. However, the coverage of the case has brought this issue to the foreground of discussions of women in the workplace, much as Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In did in 2012 ( Streitfield, 2015 ). Pao has maintained, “[If] I’ve helped to level the playing field for women and minorities in venture capital, then the battle was worth it” ( Streitfield, 2015 ).

Pao has followed through, quite literally, with this statement in her role as interim CEO at Reddit. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on April 6, 2015, she explained a new policy at the company: Job candidates will not be able to negotiate their salaries. This is because, as Pao described, “Men negotiate harder than women do and sometimes women get penalized when they do negotiate. So as part of our recruiting process we don’t negotiate with candidates. We come up with an offer that we think is fair” ( Elder, 2015 ).

Theme 1: Persistent Discrimination Toward Numerous Targets

In the year 2015, the leading contender for the democratic nominee for president of the United States was a woman (Hillary Clinton). It is for reasons such as this that journalists sometimes opine that the United States has entered a “post-sexism/racism” era in which Americans are “color blind” ( Tesler & Sears, 2010 ).

Yet, Pao’s complaint—and the cases of thousands of other female targets of discrimination—were received by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in this same year. Indeed, Heilman and Caleo (chapter 6 this volume) convincingly convey the body of evidence demonstrating continuing barriers to women’s success in achieving and maintaining favorable positions in organizations. And, despite the two-time election of African American President Barack Obama, gender discrimination claims are exceeded by those of racial minorities (see Avery, Volpone, & Holmes, chapter 7 , this volume).

Claims that discrimination has been curbed further ignore the less-studied but large segments of the adult population who continue to report discrimination. For example, Truxillo, Finkelstein, Pytlovany, and Jenkins (chapter 11 , this volume) review evidence of the negative stereotypes and perceptual biases that apply to workers across age groups; in some contexts, bias can influence the employment experiences of not only “older” workers, but also those who fall into “younger” and “middle-aged” categories. As another example, according to Ghumman and Ryan (chapter 10 , this volume), interpersonal tensions arise in religiously diverse workplaces, and discrimination can be directed toward even majority group members (i.e., Christians). Manchester and Leslie (chapter 13 , this volume) further consider family roles—such as simply being a parent—as drivers of discriminatory workplace treatment.

Segments of the workforce that may be smaller are no less important for organizational outcomes and may be even more vulnerable to discrimination. For example, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender workers (Pichler & Ruggs, chapter 12 , this volume) continue to be disadvantaged in workplace contexts. As another example, immigrants (who represent 16.1% of the US workforce) encounter complex attitudes and beliefs of their (potential) employers and coworkers (Bradley-Geist & Schmidtke, chapter 12 , this volume).

Importantly, as Cortina and Kirkland in their commentary (chapter 28 , this volume) highlight, real people in organizations often represent more than just one of these social identity categories—people can be parents and gay at the same time, and such subgroups might encounter unique employment-related challenges. Indeed, Pao herself is an Asian American woman and thus may have faced a particular set of stereotypes and prejudices. Asian Americans are often viewed as the “model minority” and are expected to be intelligent, quiet, reserved, and willing to conform to the majority’s opinion ( Fairclough, 2001 ; Ramanathan, 2006 ). Consequently, when Asian Americans do not conform to these predefined roles, they are found to be peculiar and are subsequently avoided ( Delgado & Stefancic, 2001 ). When they did not conform to stereotypic expectations of compliance and passivity, Asian Americans receive criticism mirroring Pao’s—they are called “subversive” and “not team players.” Lin, Kwan, Cheung, and Fiske (2005) describe how this “model minority” conception of Asian Americans gives them the benefit of being viewed as highly competent, but the detriment of being seen as unsociable. This dichotomy can be used to validate a system in which competence is rewarded but that some competent groups are rejected for certain positions based on deficits in other areas, such as lacking sociability ( Glick & Fiske, 2001 ; Jost, Burgess, & Mosso, 2001 ). In Pao’s case having “sharp elbows” and not being a “thought leader” seemed to fuel others’ negative perceptions. Together, these arguments and evidence suggest that—despite social progress and genuine change—this is unlikely to be the last handbook on workplace discrimination.

Theme 2: Contemporary Discrimination Is (Mostly) Subtle

Pao’s case relied heavily on what might be understood as subtle discrimination. For example, one of Pao’s mentors, John Doerr, asserted that the kind of entrepreneurs that he most wanted to invest in were, “very clearly male nerds who had no social or sex lives” ( Marcotte, 2015 ). This can be contrasted with his attempts to help Pao become more likable by hiring social coaches and speech coaches. The subtle, implicit double standard is that a man may be most likely to be successful when he lacks the skills to conduct a social or sex life (i.e., “a male nerd”) while a woman is unable to progress professionally without honing her likability ( Marcotte, 2015 ). Rebecca Ruiz outlined another example of the subtle discrimination that characterized Pao’s experience, in which a general partner, Ted Schlein, testified that he felt Pao was better suited for operations, and was not cut out for venture capital investing ( Ruiz, 2015 ). This example illustrates the difficulty of the case—because of course it is possible that Pao was, in fact, not suited for venture capital investing and Schlein only spoke the truth. However venture capital investing has much more prestige and is associated with brilliance and intuition much more so than operations. Ruiz uses a poignant parallel example to depict this difference: If one substitutes surgeon versus nurse or scientist versus science teacher, it reveals the sexist perspective behind his “advice” on eschewing investing for operations. Ruiz also notes that, while Pao was reprimanded for her “sharp elbows,” Kleiner Perkins promoted a male colleague who had received that same feedback ( Ruiz, 2015 ).

The chapters presented here confirm that this nuanced, ambiguous, and subtly undermining behavior reflect the type of experience that is encountered by targets of discrimination. Shen and Dhanani (chapter 19 , this volume) confirm that simply defining discrimination is in and of itself a complex task. They consider behaviors that are formal and interpersonal, blatant and subtle—microaggressions, harassment, selective incivility—to be potentially discriminatory. Synthesizing these ideas, Marchiondo, Ran, and Cortina (chapter 14 , this volume) suggest, “modern discrimination is characterized by subtle, low-intensity behaviors that isolate or handicap others. It is often nonverbal in nature but can manifest through verbal and paraverbal (e.g., intonation, volume) behavior.”

In this case, subtle manifestations do not equate to subtle outcomes. Marchiondo and colleagues argued that, depending on attributions and comparisons, appraisals of these experiences trigger emotional reactions and coping responses that give rise to a range of negative outcomes. Moreover, Triana, Trzebiatowski, and Byun (chapter 20 , this volume) argue that the outcomes of subtle discrimination for the individuals who experience it can be even worse than those of overt discrimination. Perpetrators of discrimination (Madera, chapter 21 , this volume) and the organizations in which they work (Smith & Simms, chapter 22 , this volume) can also be impacted by this form of bias; perpetrators can experience negative affective and cognitive processes and organizational climate, performance, and reputation suffers. It follows that even the presumably legal, subtle kinds of experiences Pao claimed would likely have impacted her, her coworkers, and the organization as a whole.

Theme 3: Effective Strategies for Reducing Discrimination and Outcomes Are Elusive

Pao lost her case. That is, despite compelling evidence about differential experiences of men and women at Kleiner, the court did not rule in her favor. The key claims of Pao’s case were gender discrimination and that she faced various instances of retaliation against her after she called out the gender discrimination she experienced. The jury found against Pao on each of these accounts. Two jurors who spoke with the press explained that they felt Pao’s claims of gender discrimination were unfounded. Jurors noted that one reason behind this was that, over the years, the “areas to improve” in Pao’s performance reviews remained constant whereas those of her colleagues changed or dropped off over time ( Ruiz, 2015 ). This decision exemplifies the complex hurdles that must be overcome to successfully litigate discrimination cases, which are highlighted by Murphy (chapter, 15, this volume), and Dunleavy, Englested, and Morris (chapter 16 , this volume). These challenges exist in spite of evidence (Hirsch & Louie, chapter 17 , this volume) that claimants view litigation as a last resort in resolving discrimination disputes.

Yet, organizations, allies, and even targets themselves can be empowered to make change. Organizations can take a role in reducing discrimination through a variety of policies and procedures (Ely & Feldberg, chapter 25 , this volume). In addition to formal organizational practices, allies, or “individuals who espouse egalitarian ideals and who are motivated not only to avoid responding with prejudice themselves but also to confront others’ prejudicial remarks and discriminatory behavior” (Ashburn-Nardo, chapter 24 , this volume) also have the power to make change. In fact, evidence suggests that allies can be particularly effective in confronting prejudice, alleviating a burden from and providing genuine support to targets of discrimination. Targets, who should not be responsible for changing the behaviors of others but who may nonetheless seek such opportunities, can also engage in specific interpersonal coping strategies that influence others’ behaviors (Hebl, Moreno, & King, chapter 23 , this volume). A range of behavioral responses—including acknowledgment, confronting, individuating, and normalizing—might reduce experiences of discrimination. It is important to note, however, that Pao both confronted and attempted to compensate unsuccessfully. She followed through with the various coaches Doerr hired to improve her “likability” ( Tiku, 2015 ). She also confronted Doerr in December 2011 regarding the gender discrimination she faced, prior to her filing suit ( Taylor, 2015 ).

Thus, the scholarly ideas are inspiring, yet leave substantial grounds of diversity management and its practical application uncharted. Large-scale, systematic assessments of integrated diversity programs and policies are virtually absent in the scholarly literature. As a result, there are more questions than answers regarding the types of programs, policies, and norms that promote inclusion in organizations.

Together, the chapters in this book clearly lay out the landscape of employment discrimination research and practice. In our view as social scientists, and consistent with the suggestions of Brief (chapter 29 , this volume), it is our obligation to conduct rigorous research to guide efforts to understand, identify, and resolve workplace discrimination. The persistence of discrimination, whatever its form and whoever its targets, must be met with tenacious scholarship to ensure its decline.

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Streitfield, D. ( 2015 , March 27). Ellen Pao loses Silicon Valley bias case against Kleiner Perkins.   New York Times . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/technology/ellen-pao-kleiner-perkins-case-decision.html?_r=1

Taylor, C. ( 2015 , March 27). In final verdict, jury rules against Pao on all four claims in Ellen Pao Vs. Kleiner Perkins.   TechCrunch . Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/27/the-jury-has-reached-a-verdict-in-ellen-pao-vs-kleiner-perkins/

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Essay on Workplace Discrimination

Students are often asked to write an essay on Workplace Discrimination in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Workplace Discrimination

What is workplace discrimination.

Workplace discrimination happens when an employer treats an employee differently because of their race, age, gender, religion, disability, or other protected characteristics. Discrimination can take many forms, including unequal pay, unfair treatment, and even termination of employment.

Why is Workplace Discrimination Wrong?

Workplace discrimination is wrong because it is unfair and unjust. It also hurts the entire economy because it prevents people from reaching their full potential. When people are treated unfairly at work, they are less likely to be productive and successful. This can lead to lower profits for businesses and a weaker economy overall.

What Can Be Done About Workplace Discrimination?

There are a number of things that can be done to combat workplace discrimination. One important step is to educate people about the issue. Many people simply do not know that discrimination is a problem, and they may not realize that they are being discriminated against. Once people are aware of the issue, they can start to take steps to stop it.

Another important step is to pass laws that protect workers from discrimination. In the United States, there are a number of laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace. These laws make it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees based on their race, age, gender, religion, disability, or other protected characteristics.

Finally, it is important to create a culture of respect and inclusion in the workplace. This means creating a workplace where everyone feels valued and respected, regardless of their differences. When everyone feels included, they are more likely to be productive and successful.

250 Words Essay on Workplace Discrimination

Workplace discrimination: an overview.

Workplace discrimination occurs when individuals at work are treated differently based on specific attributes such as race, gender, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, or sexual orientation. This unequal treatment can manifest in various forms, affecting different aspects of an employee’s work experience and overall well-being.

Impact on Individuals

Workplace discrimination can have a significant impact on individuals, affecting their work performance, job satisfaction, and mental health. Discrimination can lead to feelings of isolation, low self-esteem, and anxiety. It can also result in decreased productivity, diminished career opportunities, and even job loss. Furthermore, discrimination can create a hostile work environment, affecting the well-being of all employees.

Consequences for Employers

Workplace discrimination can have severe consequences for employers as well. It can lead to decreased employee morale, reduced productivity, and increased employee turnover. Discrimination can also result in legal liability, such as lawsuits and fines, as well as damage to the company’s reputation. Moreover, it can hinder the company’s ability to attract and retain top talent, ultimately affecting its success and profitability.

Creating an Inclusive Workplace

To counter workplace discrimination, employers must actively promote an inclusive workplace culture. This involves implementing policies and practices that ensure equal opportunities for all employees, regardless of their backgrounds or characteristics. It also requires creating a work environment where employees feel valued, respected, and supported. By fostering an inclusive workplace, employers can harness the diversity of their workforce, leading to increased creativity, innovation, and overall organizational success.

500 Words Essay on Workplace Discrimination

Workplace discrimination is unfair treatment of an employee based on their personal characteristics. It can take many forms, and it can occur in any workplace. Some of the most common types of workplace discrimination include discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, and genetic information, according to The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Understanding the Effects

Workplace discrimination can have a devastating impact on employees and their families. It can lead to lost wages, joblessness, and even poverty. It can also cause emotional distress, stress, and anxiety. In some cases, discrimination can even lead to physical violence or even death.

Legal Protections

In the United States, there are several laws that protect employees from workplace discrimination. The most important of these laws is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Other federal laws protect employees from discrimination based on age, disability, and genetic information.

The Role of Employers

Employers have a responsibility to create a workplace that is free from discrimination. They must take steps to prevent discrimination, and they must promptly investigate and resolve any complaints of discrimination. Employers must also provide employees with training on workplace discrimination.

The Role of Employees

Employees also have a role to play in preventing workplace discrimination. They should report any incidents of discrimination to their employer. They should also be aware of their rights under the law and should be prepared to take action if they are discriminated against.

Workplace discrimination is a serious problem that can have a devastating impact on employees and their families. However, there are laws in place to protect employees from discrimination. Employers and employees both have a role to play in creating a workplace that is free from discrimination.

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Cognition’s new ai tool devin is set to revolutionize coding industry, heated discussions erupt on reddit over chatgpt’s entry in scholarly publication, do you use quotation marks when paraphrasing, typely review, how to rewrite the sentence in active voice, workplace discrimination essay sample, example.

What exactly is workplace discrimination? It can be defined as a less favorable treatment towards an individual or a group of individuals at work, usually based on their nationality, skin color, sex, marital status, age, trade union activity, or other defining attributes (Australian Human Rights Commission). It can appear as a denial of certain rights, negligent treatment, intentional underestimating of a worker’s personality or work results and achievements, and so on. A person can be discriminated by their employers, or by their coworkers as well. Discrimination can result into severe psychological consequences for the victim, such as emotional stress and anxiety. Discrimination often causes an employee to leave the workplace, resign from a position, or in severe cases, to commit suicide, or act violently against the discriminators.

Workplace discrimination can take more open and threatening forms, which are known as workplace harassment. It occurs when an employee is made to feel intimidated, insulted, or humiliated, based on such features as race, ethnic origin, gender, physical or mental disability, or on any other characteristic specified under legislation (AHRC). The two most radical forms of workplace harassment are the application of physical violence or sexual harassment—women are especially exposed to this kind of discrimination. Workplace violence can take several forms: the direct exercise of physical force against a worker which causes or could cause injuries to the worker; an attempt to exercise physical force; or a statement or behavior which a worker can reasonably interpret as a threat to exercise physical force (Ontario Ministry of Labor). Sexual harassment can take the form of obscene jokes and allusions; intrusive body contact; inappropriate gestures, or even direct actions aimed at sexual contact.

There are several ways to deal with workplace discrimination; such measures can be held both on the individual and on the collective level. Individuals who have experienced discrimination or harassment at work are recommended to stand firm under verbal attacks, remain confident about their own abilities and judgments, and try not to stay alone with the abusive person (UnionSafe). At the same time, collective measures can be taken as well. They usually include calling for a meeting in a quiet, confidential place in order to admit and discuss the problem; complaining to competent authorities; developing respective policies together with sanctions applied in case there is an infringement enacted by workers.

Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world, and not all people can enjoy equal opportunities and rights. This refers not only to our personal lives, but to our working environment as well; employees can be discriminated and abused because of certain features they possess, such as the color of skin, their ethnicity or gender, age, marital status, disabilities, and so on. To eliminate workplace discrimination, both individual and collective preventive measures should be made.

References “What is Workplace Discrimination and Harassment?” Australian Human Rights Commission. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 July 2013. <http://www.humanrights.gov.au/what-workplace-discrimination-and-harassment>.

“Preventing Workplace Violence and Workplace Harassment.” Ontario Ministry of Labor. N.p., July 2011. Web. 05 July 2013. <http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/sawo/pubs/fs_workplaceviolence.php>.

“Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace.” UnionSafe. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 July 2013. <http://unionsafe.labor.net.au/hazards/10717236108849.html>.

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Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change (2016)

Chapter: 6 conclusions and recommendations, 6 conclusions and recommendations, lessons learned, experiences of other countries.

The experiences of Australia, Canada, and England (see Chapter 4 ) strongly indicate that changing negative social norms that stigmatize people with mental and substance use disorders will require a coordinated and sustained effort. Behavioral health-related norms and beliefs are created and reinforced at multiple levels, including day-to-day contact with people affected by mental and substance use disorders, organizational policies and practices, community norms and beliefs, the media, and governmental law and policy. Successful national-scale anti-stigma programs in other countries shared the following characteristics:

• They were supported by government at the national level.
• Support was committed on a long-term basis, often over decades.
• There was ongoing evaluation and monitoring from the planning phase forward.
• The initiative was multipronged to address the full range of relevant needs.
• Programs and services were coordinated across states (provinces) and across economic and social sectors to reduce fragmentation of efforts.
• Information was collected and disseminated about what worked, with whom, and under which conditions in order to inform the ongoing program development as well as future programs.

The Ryan White Act

In the United States, the Ryan White Care Act (RWCA) provides an example of a coordinated and sustained effort to meet the full spectrum of needs in people with HIV/AIDS. The act was initially passed by Congress in 1990 and has since been reauthorized four times in 1996, 2000, 2006, and 2009. The act supports programs and services at the community, municipal, and state level across the nation. Over the past 25 years, the Ryan White Program has become a critical component of the HIV/AIDS health care system in the United States, serving more than one-half million people ( Crowley and Kates, 2013 ). The history, evolution, and outcomes of the program provide relevant information for future behavioral health anti-stigma initiatives.

The Ryan White Program has evolved to embrace a focus on treatment as prevention, which is consistent with the goals of the Affordable Care Act and the U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Ongoing evaluation and outcomes research provide future direction for the program, most recently in the areas of health workforce development, insurance coverage, and efforts to scale up programs to achieve population-level impacts ( Crowley and Garner, 2015 ).

The Ryan White Program funds social support-related services in addition to traditional health care and prescription drug programs, including transportation and housing assistance, nutrition services, day care, and dental care ( Taylor, 2010 ). Such “wrap-around” services are provided within the context of an integrated model of care to improve quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS who face many of the stigma-related barriers as individuals with mental and substance use disorders ( Garfield, 2011 ). Funding is awarded through statutorily established formula grants and through competitive mechanisms with the bulk of funds distributed noncompetitively in response to evolving needs.

One critique of RWCA is that the act did not establish minimum standards for care and services delivery across all states. For example, the act funded AIDS Drug Assistance Programs that were managed by individual states with the states deciding how to allocate funding and set eligibility for enrollment. At the program’s peak height in September 2011, more than 9,000 people with HIV were on state medication waiting lists. Although state and local autonomy regarding implementation and delivery is essential, lessons learned from the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs underscore the need for unifying program standards and illustrate the

important role of the federal government in a national strategy to reduce stigma related to mental and substance use disorders.

An Ecological Framework

Research on stigma toward mental and substance use disorders is challenging and complex in part because it necessarily involves a wide range of independent service systems, numerous sectors and professions, competing agendas, nuanced ethical and cultural issues, and multiple levels of outcome analysis ranging from the individual level to national statistics. Coordinating research across these many layers and systems will require a strategic and harmonious effort on the part of the federal government, private foundations, and academic and health care institutions, and other stakeholders. A coordinated research effort should be finely tuned to the societal and cultural contexts that intentionally or unintentionally endorse or facilitate stigma at various levels, especially the structural level. One assumption of an ecological perspective is that society’s tolerance for or endorsement of a negative norm sets a precedent for stigma at the individual, family, and community levels ( Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, 2014 ). This underscores the need to focus more attention on eliminating structural stigma (see Recommendation 2 ).

Understanding the processes by which factors at the individual, family, community, and social levels interact to produce and maintain stigma will require multidisciplinary, multimethod, and multisector approaches. Research will need to leverage and build on the existing knowledge base related to mental and substance use disorders, stigma change, and other relevant and related fields. Finally, effective research needs to consider the cultural processes, social stratification, ecological variations, and immigrant/acculturation status that are pertinent to understanding the causes and consequences mental and substance disorder stigma ( Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, 2014 . These sociocultural factors are critical elements to consider in developing and testing intervention strategies and in adapting evidence-based practices to unique populations and target audiences to ensure cultural relevance, reach, efficacy, and adoption ( Barrera et al., 2013 ).

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A national-level approach.

CONCLUSION: The experiences of the U.S. campaigns related to HIV/AIDS and of anti-stigma campaigns in Australia, Canada, and

England demonstrate the need for a coordinated and sustained effort over 2 or more decades to reduce the stigma associated with mental and substance use disorders.

Norms and beliefs related to behavioral health, such as the stigma associated with mental and substance use disorders, are created and reinforced at multiple levels, including day-to-day contact with affected individuals, organizational policies and practices, community norms and beliefs, the media, and governmental law and policy. A number of private and public organizations are already engaged in anti-stigma and mental health promotion efforts, but because these efforts are largely uncoordinated and poorly evaluated, they cannot provide an evidence base for future national efforts.

RECOMMENDATION 1: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should take the lead responsibility among federal partners and key stakeholders in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a multipronged, evidence-based national strategy to reduce stigma and to support people with mental and substance use disorders.

Relevant stakeholder groups would include the following:

• consumers in treatment for mental and substance use disorders and consumer organizations;
• families and others whose lives are touched by mental illness or substance use disorders, including suicide-attempt survivors and loss survivors;
• relevant private sector leadership, including major employers;
• relevant foundations and nongovernmental organizations;
• advocates and advocacy groups, including civil rights and disability law experts;
• insurance companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers;
• journalists and others in the news media, including public health media experts;
• health and behavioral health care providers, and administrators, including protective services and social services providers;
• health professional education institutions and professional associations;
• academic researchers, including suicide prevention experts and researchers;
• law enforcement officials and first responders; and
• representatives of federal, state, and local governments.

Early tasks would include the following:

• Identify a lead organization to serve as convener of stakeholders.
• Promote coordination and engagement across local, state, federal, and nongovernmental groups, including the U.S. Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, and Labor, and relevant stakeholder groups to pool resources and promote evidence-based approaches.
• Evaluate current laws and regulations related to persons with mental and substance use disorders to identify opportunities to promote changes to support people on the path to recovery.
• Support the development of a strategic plan for research and dissemination of evidence about effective strategies to change social norms related to mental and substance use disorders (see Recommendation 3 ).
• With the federal agencies and other partners, develop a process of identifying and engaging grassroots efforts in each state to promote the implementation of evidence-based programs and fidelity monitoring of service delivery.
• With the federal agencies, establish a long-term, national monitoring system for stigma and stigma reduction.

Collaboration and Coordination

In 2013, eight federal agencies were identified as having programs to support individuals with mental and substance use disorders—the U.S. Departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing, Justice, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration—although their specific mission goals vary. To improve the effectiveness and extend the reach of the federal agencies’ programs, there are some ongoing efforts to coordinate across the agencies and their programs ( U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2014 ).

To maximize desired outcomes, collaborative efforts should eschew “ownership” of programs and include cobranding and resource sharing. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA’s) ongoing engagement with stakeholders can support the search for common ground, mutually articulated goals, and shared agendas.

The committee has identified structural stigma and stereotypes of dangerousness and unpredictability as major sources of public and self-stigma. Given the importance of reducing stigma in these areas, early efforts could focus on development of a communications campaign that

targeted policy and decision makers to challenge specific laws, policies and regulations that discriminate against people with mental and substance use disorders. Such a campaign could develop evidence-based public service announcements to hold in readiness for tragic events, such as mass violence, suicide by school and college students, and suicide clusters.

CONCLUSION: Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, based on the best possible evidence, which are supported at the national level and planned and implemented by a representative coalition of stakeholders. Engaging a wide range of stakeholders would facilitate consensus building and provide the support needed to overcome major obstacles to the implementation of effective anti-stigma programs in the United States. Barriers and challenges include, but are not limited to, conflict among major stakeholder groups regarding best practices and priorities, resource constraints, and the need to target multiple audiences with variable perceptions and priorities, as well as shifting priorities at the national level.

RECOMMENDATION 2: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should evaluate its own service programs and collaborate with other stakeholders, particularly the criminal justice system and government and state agencies, for the purpose of identifying and eliminating policies, practices, and procedures that directly or indirectly discriminate against people with mental and substance use disorders.

Strategic Planning for Research

The committee defines strategic planning as the process undertaken by an agency or organization to define its future and formulate a detailed plan to guide its path from the current state to its vision for the future.

CONCLUSION: A planning process usually results in the development of a key document that includes a plan to ensure that communication is maintained across all stakeholders. This element is especially relevant for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration given the agency’s ongoing engagement with stakeholders and collaborators. A strategic plan can also serve as the basis of comparison for an ongoing plan for iterative effectiveness monitoring.

RECOMMENDATION 3: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration should conduct formative and evaluative research as part of a strategically planned effort to reduce stigma.

SAMHSA’s ongoing program of research on social norms and communications practices could coordinate with national efforts to achieve common goals and objectives. SAMHSA’s Office of Communication’s future activities could also be informed and supported by partners and participating stakeholders.

Because change occurs slowly, outcome evaluations need to be multifaceted and sustained to capture both direct and indirect effects, as well as intended and unintended consequences. An evaluation plan should include and support community-based participatory research that is based on the principle of partnership, in which community partners act as co-learners with academic partners rather than helpers and recipients. This approach involves community stakeholders in helping to define both the change targets and the intervention strategies, as well as in the conduct of the research itself. To inform a national campaign, more in-depth formative and evaluative research is critically needed in three areas: communication strategies, contact-based programs, and the role of peers.

Communication Strategies

Communication science provides a basis for understanding the effects of message features, contents, and platforms on four outcomes: cognitive (e.g., attention and memory), affective (e.g., liking, empathy, and fear), persuasive (e.g., attitude and behavior change), and behavioral (e.g., intents and actions). These effects are not discrete. They depend on characteristics of the target audience or audiences, the media platform, the message source, and the specific content and production features used in the message. For example, in a campaign to counter the stereotype of dangerousness in the wake of a tragic event, relevant audiences would include the media, school officials and teachers, young people, parents, and clergy. Messages would target specific smaller groups and would be designed and delivered with input and support of engaged stakeholders, for example, in donated airtime or volunteered time of high-profile supporters and speakers.

CONCLUSION: Best practices in choosing effective messages first require that a communications campaign develop well-defined goals for each specific group targeted. Effective messages can then be tailored to the specific target audience for the defined goals.

Because of the complexity of designing communication messages, efforts to implement the committee’s recommendation on this topic should be informed by the results of formative and evaluative research. Research is necessary both before message concepts are generated and after message concepts are created for testing in the field. The perspectives of people with lived experience of mental and substance use disorders should inform anti-stigma campaigns at every stage, including design, delivery, and evaluation.

RECOMMENDATION 4: To design stigma-reduction messaging and communication programs, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration should investigate and use evidence from formative and evaluative research on effective communication across multiple platforms.

Several general features of effective communication programs have been identified by research and can inform the work in the committee’s recommendations to SAMHSA:

• Identify specific target groups and specific goals appropriate to each group (e.g., legislators and policy makers, employers and landlords, educators, health care practitioners, and people with mental and substance use disorders).
• Make strong appeals that are relevant and personally consequential to particular audiences, for example, young people or veterans.
• Understand how a particular audience orients to a message and what kinds of cues and styles hold their attention so that the message is absorbed and remembered.
• Know what matters most to a specific target group.

Contact-Based Programs

Mixed-methods research has led to the identification of key elements of successful contact-based programs ( Corrigan et al., 2013 , 2014 ). Outcome research on contact demonstrates robust effects in pre-post studies ( Corrigan et al., 2012 ; Griffiths et al., 2014 ) and at follow-up ( Corrigan et al., 2015a ). Although the efficacy of contact-based programs is greater than that of education programs alone in adults across a range of specific target audiences, such as health professionals, college students, and police, evidence shows that one-time contact is not as effective as repeated contact. Education programs are effective in changing stigmatizing attitudes among adolescents.

CONCLUSION: To expand the reach of contact-based programs, efforts will be needed to develop a nationally representative cohort of individuals who have disclosed information about their experiences of mental or substance use disorders. Involvement of those individuals needs to be preceded by the design of programs to aid personal consideration and action on disclosure decisions and of peer training programs to help people consider the risks and benefits of disclosure.

RECOMMENDATION 5: To decrease public and self-stigma and promote affirming and inclusive attitudes and behaviors targeted to specific groups, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration should work with federal partners to design, evaluate, and disseminate effective, evidence-based, contact-based programming.

The Role of Peers

Peers play an essential role in combatting stigma, in part because they model personal recovery. Their role is critical in helping individuals to overcome the debilitating forces of self-stigma. Peer support programs and services include social and emotional support, as well as practical support related to quality-of-life decisions, delivered by people with mental and substance use disorders. Peer support has existed since the 1970s, but in 2001 several states began efforts to certify and train the peer specialist workforce. By 2012, 36 states had established such programs, although there is considerable variation in the certification programs across these states ( Ostrow and Adams, 2012 ). State programs vary in terms of stage of development and certification requirements, including the content and process of training, examination criteria, and requirements for continuing education and recertification ( Kaufman et al., 2012 ).

Most research on the outcomes of peer services has focused on quality-of-life measures. Few data are available about the costs and benefits of these programs, although the research suggests that people who use peer support services are more likely to use other behavioral health services of all kinds, including professional services and prescription drugs, which may lead to improved outcomes ( Landers and Zhou, 2014 ). Although more peers are becoming certified, stakeholders disagree about the risks and benefits of professionalizing the role given grassroots origins of peer support in the consumer movement ( Ostrow and Adams, 2012 ).

CONCLUSION: In the United States, there is no established and accepted set of national or state competencies or standards for peer

specialists, such as those that apply to other health professionals at state levels.

Although stakeholders do not agree on the risks and benefits of certification for peer support providers, it may contribute to the quality and outcomes of peer services and facilitate research on the effectiveness of these services across a range of outcomes. Programs need to be appropriately targeted to the audience or audiences and implemented at the relevant geographic level. Components of this effort would include standardization of preparation for peer service providers and development of practice guidelines for referral to and delivery of peer services across agencies and organizations engaged in this work. SAMHSA has taken steps in this direction with its 2009 Consumer-Operated Service Evidence-Based Practices Toolkit ( Chapter 4 ) and continues to have an important role to play in the development and dissemination of these products and programs across the nation. The National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health offers a national certification for parent support providers that could serve as a model for future efforts to expand the reach of high-quality peer support services.

RECOMMENDATION 6: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration should work with partners to design, support, and assess the effectiveness of evidence-based peer programs to support people with mental and substance use disorders along the path to recovery and to encourage their participation in treatment.

Development of a national strategy for eliminating the stigma of mental and substance use disorders is a challenging, long-term goal that will require collaboration across federal agencies, support from governments at all levels, and engagement of a broad range of stakeholders. No single agency can implement an effective national strategy, but SAMHSA brings specific and unique strengths including well-established stakeholder relations, commitment to the recovery model, and a history of promotion and implementation of prevention and early intervention strategies. Early objectives will include consensus building across a range of issues, design of cost-sharing arrangements, and development and implementation of a research strategy, including a system for monitoring change public attitudes, and mechanisms for disseminating information to inform future anti-stigma interventions.

Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes. These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment. Improving the lives of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders has been a priority in the United States for more than 50 years. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 is considered a major turning point in America's efforts to improve behavioral healthcare. It ushered in an era of optimism and hope and laid the groundwork for the consumer movement and new models of recovery. The consumer movement gave voice to people with mental and substance use disorders and brought their perspectives and experience into national discussions about mental health.

However over the same 50-year period, positive change in American public attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders has lagged behind these advances. Stigma is a complex social phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviors to a person with that attribute. Labeled individuals are then socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. This report contributes to national efforts to understand and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to stigma and discrimination. Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, which are based on the best possible evidence, supported at the national level with multiyear funding, and planned and implemented by an effective coalition of representative stakeholders.

Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change explores stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with mental or substance use disorders and recommends effective strategies for reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment and other supportive services. It offers a set of conclusions and recommendations about successful stigma change strategies and the research needed to inform and evaluate these efforts in the United States.

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Confronting the Uncomfortable Reality of Workplace Discrimination

The U.S. is finally addressing racism in law enforcement. While we’re at it, let’s tackle workplace discrimination as well.

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Widespread protests have filled the streets in every U.S. state and around the world almost daily since George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police late in May. As the Black Lives Matter movement reminds us — and as the murders of Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, and too many others have made painfully obvious — Black people often experience a harsher standard of treatment at the hands of the police than White people do. The sheer number and variety of people now speaking out on social media against discrimination and police brutality, and organizing and attending diverse protests worldwide, suggest that the push toward greater accountability and racial equality in law enforcement is gaining momentum. We could not be happier about this development — but we can’t stop there.

Our research involves a different form of racial discrimination, one that directly affects almost every facet of Black American lives. Workplace discrimination — employers’ tendency to value White employees over Black employees — has had devastating consequences for generations of Black Americans. We know some of the solutions, but we need the social will to implement them.

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The list of discriminatory workplace practices is long and backed by research . Applicants with White-sounding names are more likely to receive calls back from potential employers than those with Black-sounding names. 1 Studies have shown that darker-skinned applicants face distinctive disadvantages when applying for jobs compared with lighter-skinned applicants. 2 One study even found that a White applicant with a criminal record received more interest from employers than a Black applicant with no record — an injustice compounded by the racial discrimination of law enforcement, which has increased the likelihood that Black Americans will have a criminal record. 3

Systemic discrimination doesn’t stop once someone has landed a job. Racial bias affects negotiations over starting pay, future wages, and upward mobility. In short, Black employees start off making less money than their White colleagues, a disparity that compounds over time. Black employees also receive promotions less often. 4

A third significant blow comes when economic times are tough, as they are now. Many Black Americans believe they are the “last hired and first fired,” and it appears that there is some truth to that.

About the Authors

Derek R. Avery is the C.T. Bauer Chair of Inclusive Leadership at the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. Enrica N. Ruggs ( @enruggs ) is an assistant professor of management and director of the Center for Workplace Diversity and Inclusion at the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis.

1. M. Bertrand and S. Mullainathan, “Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination,” The American Economic Review 94, no. 4 (September 2004): 991-1013.

2. M.S. Harrison and K.M. Thomas, “The Hidden Prejudice in Selection: A Research Investigation on Skin Color Bias,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 39, no. 1 (January 2009): 134-168.

3. D. Pager, “The Mark of a Criminal Record,” American Journal of Sociology 108, no. 5 (March 2003): 937-975.

4. D.R. Avery, S.D. Volpone, and O. Holmes IV, “Racial Discrimination in Organizations,” ch. 7 in “The Oxford Handbook of Workplace Discrimination,” eds. A.J. Colella and E.B. King (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018).

5. K.A. Couch and R. Fairlie, “Last Hired, First Fired? Black-White Unemployment and the Business Cycle,” Demography 47, no. 1 (February 2010): 227-247; and K.A. Couch, R. Fairlie, and H. Xu, “Racial Differences in Labor Market Transitions and the Great Recession,” in “Transitions Through the Labor Market,” eds. S.W. Polachek and K. Tatsiramos (Somerville, Massachusetts: Emerald Publishing, 2018), 1-54.

6. D.A. Thomas, “Diversity as Strategy,” Harvard Business Review 82, no. 9 (September 2004): 98-108.

7. A. Luksyte, E. Waite, D.R. Avery, et al., “Held to a Different Standard: Racial Differences in the Impact of Lateness on Advancement Opportunity,” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 86, no. 2 (April 2013): 142-165.

8. A.N. Smith, M.B. Watkins, J.J. Ladge, et al., “Making the Invisible Visible: Paradoxical Effects of Intersectional Invisibility on the Career Experiences of Executive Black Women,” Academy of Management Journal 62, no. 6 (December 2019): 1705-1734.

9. K.P. Jones, C.I. Peddie, V.L. Gilrane, et al., “Not So Subtle: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of the Correlates of Subtle and Overt Discrimination,” Journal of Management 42, no. 6 (September 2016): 1588-1613.

10. A.M. Czopp, M.J. Monteith, and A.Y. Mark, “Standing Up for a Change: Reducing Bias Through Interpersonal Confrontation,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90, no. 5 (May 2006): 784-803.

11. D. Chrobot-Mason, B.R. Ragins, and F. Linnehan, “Second Hand Smoke: Ambient Racial Harassment at Work,” Journal of Managerial Psychology 28, no. 5 (2013): 470-491.

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Brittany granberry, shirley engelmeier.

Essay on Workplace Discrimination

Literature review.

Employees play a significant role in the success of an organization. For them to be productive, they require a conducive work environment that supports their individual and professional growth. A pleasant environment fosters their morale to work hard and meet the set goals and objectives (Edem et al., 2017). Sometimes, employees face different challenges that make them develop a negative attitude towards their work, which interferes with their productivity. Being in an unsafe environment, for instance, may lower down their spirit, and hence the employer may record poor performance. One of the critical challenges affecting employee performance is workplace discrimination. Therefore, the review explores the relationship between workplace discrimination and employee’s disaffection / resulting performance.

Workplace Discrimination

Discrimination is when other individuals get more preference than others, hence favoring one party at the expense of the other. Hughes and Dodge (1997) study reveal that discriminated employees get heavy workloads, low task variety, limited authority to decision-making, and inadequate supervision. Workplace discrimination takes many forms, as it can be treatment towards an individual based upon a stereotype. In some cases, we see forms of mild forms of discrimination. These are cases where people can be the target, or it can go unnoticed Tacneaux (2012). Tacneaux (2012) further discusses various studies focusing on discrimination and mentions it as the act of treating people differently based on gender, race, religion, and other aspects favoring one person over the other. The study of Taylor et al. (2013) identified discrimination-based age, gender, and economic positions to affect an employee’s respect at work, job security, training, and delegation of personally meaningful work. Discrimination can serve as a tactic to make others feel less superior, especially when coming from a higher-up such as management. It is also possible that a coworker can discriminate against another employee as well. Also, some forms of discrimination occur due to one’s racial affiliation. Stressors can also influence workplace discrimination. For instance, Hughes and Dodge (1997) indicate interpersonal prejudices and institutionalized discrimination as occupational stressors that affect employee performance.

The worst form of workplace discrimination is based on racial and ethnic affiliation of a person. According to McGowan (2010), perceived ethnic discrimination affects the organizational citizenship behavior of an employee. He further reports a correlation between work discrimination and gender, where men experience more cases of ethnic discrimination that women (Gowen, 2010). Chen and Klein (1999) note that despite America being considered a free state, the Black people still experience high racial discrimination levels. They further indicate that racial harassment increasingly affects the working population of the United States (Chen & Klein, 1999), and this impacts the structure and the process of an organization. Most employees are likely to work on an assignment that is beyond their level of training. Hughes and Dodge (1997) note that African-American women tend to face this challenge in the American workforce, where they work as support staff and receive lower wages. Biased job opportunities give women less opportunity to explore their abilities and further their skill and training following the low level of skill utilization and decision-making.

The problem of workplace discrimination of women has been prevalent across the world, and this calls for action to address the problem and employ women in jobs that meet their academic qualifications. Tacneaux (2012) notes that some individuals feel the impact of racial discrimination during the hiring process. Glen et al. (2000) supports the argument and notes that many African-American fail to secure jobs due to the use of unstructured interviews that locks them out. Even after securing it, they face different forms of discrimination that affect their work. Therefore, most of them become dissatisfied with the job and would prefer to leave the profession. The study further notes that ethnicity is a critical issue in American workplaces as different employing organizations portray some diversity issues that require urgent attention (Glen et al., 2000). Though a job applicant has the right to know why he/she did not get the job, most of them have the qualifications but fail to get job opportunities based on their race. However, Chen and Klein (1999) blame the federal law, which does not provide a clear line between employees’ freedom of speech and intentional harassment, so many managers may think that they are launching a complaint on the employees. Still, in the real sense, they are harassing them. Therefore, Chen and Klein (1999) advise employees to be aware of their rights to receive equal treatment such that employers will not abuse or manipulate them.

Work Disaffection/Performance as a Result of Workplace Discrimination

Workplace discrimination has significant impacts on the performance of employees. Employees suffer serious social, economic, and psychological implications, and this impacts their work satisfaction and performance. The study of Dwomoh et al. (2015) found that when an employee is unhappy, whether in the hiring phase or while working for the company, he/she will register poor performance for the company and may ultimately quit the job. McGowan (2010) reports that ethnic discrimination harms the job attitude, including job behaviors and organizational citizenship. Also, it reduces job satisfaction and affective commitment among employees, which will lead to poor performance (McGowan, 2010). Workplace discrimination affects company decisions on the welfare of employees. Pandita and Domnic (2019) assess the implication of workplace discrimination among library and Information Science employees of Jammu & Kashmir in India. The study notes that religious and racial discrimination at work affects decisions on promotion, pay, recognition, administrative interference, research grants, and leave admissibility (Pandita & Domnic, 2019). Though the study notes that employees have never encountered any form of isolation or insults from the management and peers, the victim experience change in their professional and personal life, leading to a lowered self-esteem, dismay, unhappiness, and consequential job satisfaction. According to Taylor et al. (2013) discrimination based on age, gender, and economic positions affect an employee’s respect at work, job security, training, and delegation of personally meaningful work, and these aspects affect job satisfaction his/her psychosocial wellbeing of a person. Since most of these discriminations go unnoticed, the employers should rise to the occasion and address the problem at work level, considering that low employee satisfaction leads to lower performance and may consequentially lead to the collapse of the business.

The study by Dwomoh et al. (2015) concluded that workplace discrimination does not affect employee performance based on the questionnaires filled by one hundred fifty-nine Ghanaian employees to examine the effect of workplace discrimination on employee performance. Therefore, Dwomoh et al. (2015) recommend that the management be allowed to make decisions that would improve performance, considering that they are underperforming.

To address the problem of workplace discrimination, Tacneaux (2012) recommends a change in policies and structures at the organization level. Tacneaux (2012) consider the fact that different workplaces have different types and levels of discrimination, and they are, therefore, in the best position to address the problem within themselves. Besides, Hirsh and Lyons (2010) recommend the spirit of legal consciousness among employers and employees to remedy workplace discrimination. They advise employees to invoke Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects workers from discrimination. In this case, Hirsh and Lyons (2010) further note that they should report their claims to the local and federal agencies. Therefore, employees should always be aware of actions that define discrimination and use the present anti-discrimination regulatory framework to invoke their rights. Wood et al. (2013) support the above argument but notes that it is essential for the organization to differentiate between organizational justice and differential power. In this case, that some acts such as workplace violence and aggression may not result from discrimination, but instead happen due to the arbitrator (Wood et al. 2013). This results from one’s influence, ability to punish, specialty, and the ability to reward. Therefore, the study recommends that mediation among employees and addressing workplace discrimination should be the work of the organizational leadership following their influence and skills to eradicate the problem among employees (Wood et al. 2013).

Workplace discrimination refers to a situation in which other employees get more preference than others, hence favoring one employee at the expense of the other. Discriminated employees get heavy workloads, low task variety, limited authority to decision-making, and inadequate supervision. Discrimination in the workplace might be based on age, gender, and economic positions to affect an employee’s respect at work, job security, training, and delegation of personally meaningful work. The worst form of workplace discrimination is based on racial and ethnic affiliation of a person. The problem of gender-based workplace discrimination can be eliminated by hiring employees based on merit and academic qualification rather than age, gender, and economic positions. The problem of workplace discrimination can be addressed through change in policies and structures at the organization level. Mediation among employees and organizational leadership to address workplace discrimination should be conducted more often.

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Edem, M. J., Akpan, E. U., & Pepple, N. M. (2017). Impact of workplace environment on health workers.  Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs ,  5 (2), 1-5.

Hirsh, E., & Lyons, C. J. (2010). Perceiving discrimination on the job: Legal consciousness, workplace context, and the construction of race discrimination.  Law & Society Review ,  44 (2), 269-298.

Hughes, D., & Dodge, M. A. (1997). African American women in the workplace: Relationships between job conditions, racial bias at work, and perceived job quality.  American journal of community psychology ,  25 (5), 581-599.

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Pandita, R., & Domnic, J. (2019). Overcoming workplace discrimination and job dissatisfaction in academic libraries: A Study.  Library Philosophy and Practice , 1-24.

Tacneaux, N. (2012). Discrimination in The Workplace: Race, Age, and Gender Discrimination -Impact on Performance in The Public Sector: A Collection of Related Papers. ProQuest LLC.

Taylor, P., Mcloughlin, C., Meyer, D., & Brooke, E. (2013). Everyday discrimination in the workplace, job satisfaction and psychological wellbeing: Age differences and moderating variables. Ageing & Society ,  33 (7), 1105-1138.

Wood, S., Braeken, J., & Niven, K. (2013). Discrimination and wellbeing in organizations:

Testing the differential power and organizational justice theories of workplace aggression.  Journal of business ethics ,  115 (3), 617-634.

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Gender Discrimination in the Workplace Essay

• Author Kimberly Ball
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Introduction

Gender discrimination remains a global issue of great concern within society and in the workplace environment. Discrimination at the workplace has several disadvantages such as low productivity and increased level of demoralization. Discrimination in the workplace remains a contentious issue of great concern that organizations should learn to address (Christy and Brad 12). Many people have argued that favoring specific individuals or communities within the workplace will enhance productivity while other people have an opinion that it greatly affects organizational performance. It is true that women, unlike men, continue to undergo unfair discrimination and unlawful discrimination in the workplace. Some people have argued that discrimination of women over certain activities are essential for the overall performance of the firm while other people also think that gender discrimination is a total violation of work ethics and labor laws (Jennings, para.19). The discussion is an argumentative essay that seeks to provide reasons against and reasons for gender discrimination in the workplace.

The Argument Against Women Discrimination in the Workplace

Increase in Productivity

It is important that the organization treat both men and women the same in the workplace. Offering them equal services in most cases tends to motivate them as they work towards the realization of the organizational success. Treating workers with respect improves their sense of satisfactorily as well as making them happy. However, they display a good image of the company even to the outsiders (Dipboye and Colella 13). Besides, it attracts more inventors to the company with the aim of achieving the set goals.

Additionally, On the other hand, any form of workers discrimination creates rivalry and hatred among employees. Consequently, it adversely affects the performance of the firm (Shih, Young, and Bucher, 145). It is vital for a company to show dignity to their employees for continuous productivity. More so, the company should develop laws that protect the employees’ welfare to reduce job harassment.

Business enterprises should improve in eliminating gender discrimination in the place of work. They should consider women’s rights as well as gender equality. It has effects on transgender and bisexual people thus affecting how they interact with their colleagues (Ghumman and Ryan 677). Companies should enact measures to stop and prevent discrimination to avoid lowering output productivity.

Gender biasing can result in mental illness such as tremor due to outside pressure from the people around (Wolfe 31). The victims usually develop depression and anxiety due to emotional loneliness. They can also engage in the use of drug substances, which has adverse outcomes such as affecting work capabilities and health complications. Mental health problems also affect the company’s managers due to unstable workers who produce low quality work.

It also creates conflicts between employees leading to increased hatred. Discrimination always brings harassment as some people receive favors while others are ill-treated. It develops disunity and divides employees as both sides have followers. As a result, job performance reduces due to office dramas and arguments.

However, conflicts in the workplace always lead to negative results as output production is affected. The organization should enact measures to stop gender biasing to create a peaceful working environment (Christy and Brad, 31). They should ensure that all workers regardless of gender are treated equally without any form of nuisance. It will make each worker appreciate another person as they work towards achieving the company’s goals.

Gender inequality in a workplace lowers company morale as most of the employees engage in worthless activities. The employees working morale is significantly affected due to the division between employees. The clients to are concerned as they receive ill treatments from the employees (Wolfe 4). It displays a lousy company image to the public hence lowering the number of potential clients. Therefore, companies should eliminate any form of gender discrimination to ensure they meet the target market. Adopting diversity in the workplace and managing it more efficiently ensures firms are ready to achieve their goals and target on top of attracting a wider range of potential employees.

Moreover, discriminating workers and hostility to them compromises their productivity level. Therefore, it is advisable that for the new firm venturing in the market to uphold fair treatment free from any form of discrimination as well as teamwork and the employee’s diversification to see the firm achieving its operational goals and policies (Rhode, para.10). On the other hand, some organization might decide to discriminate women given that research shows that women in most cases tend to register a lower level of productivity based on the manner and the nature of a job (Dipboye and Colella 17). It, therefore, indicates that discrimination has both the good and its negative effect on the overall performance of the business.

Women contribute to the company’s productivity as many works hard to keep their families. Many are single parents hence they ensure that they provide needs to people concerned. Increase in workers conflict has an impact in the office productivity due to reducing in work enthusiasm. To generate better produce any organization should ensure that there is peaceful coexistence between workers and their seniors.

It will increase the employee’s comfortability and enjoyment when attending to their duties. It also leads to a rise in the worker’s sense of belonging as they feel the need to perform their tasks (De Hart and Dayton, 16). Moreover, women biasing lower the companies productivity permanent measures should be enacted to curb the issue.

Arguments for the Need for Women Discrimination

Nature of Certain Work Types

Many organizations can decide to discriminate women based on the nature of certain jobs. Some job types only require the service of the man and not women. Additionally, some research shows that women have a lower rate of productivity and offering them a chance might not have the value that the organization needs for the realization of its major objective and even demands towards the realization of its goals (Denissen and Saguy 388). The management will decide not to employ women given that they also tend to be slow in the manner that they carry out their activities.

Some Job Types only Require Men and not Women

Certain jobs that require a lot of energy may not favor women at the workplace. Therefore, it will force the organization to look for the men and not women. For example, a construction firm will mainly prefer working with men and not women. Men are known to produce quality job as compared with women. Women are known not to like working under pressure or in certain conditions.

Women Tend to have many Excuses with Limited Flexibility as Compared to Men

It will be difficult for the women gender to work in places that seem to be of hardship as compared to men. Most women prefer working places that seems close to their homes and family so that they can give or attend to their family needs. It, therefore, shows that most organization will find it easy to avoid recruiting women in the workplace based on the numerous challenges. For instance, the moment that the firm decides to give a woman two months of  pregnancy leave, the firm will be facing employee and productivity challenges. Considering the above factors altogether, it will then be possible for the firm to discriminate women at the workplace.

Gender discrimination remains an issue of great concern. Based on my argument and reasoning, I take a point that women discrimination has many challenges in life as compared to the benefits. Discriminating women within organizations are harmful to the business performance given that it tends to demoralize the ability of the employees to deliver their level best to enhance productivity. Treating employees on an equal basis gives them a sense of belonging. Workers feel motivated when frequently involved in the decision-making process and into the daily operations. The primary goal of every firm is to work towards increasing profit realization through employee’s productivity, and most of the male counterpart will feel discouraged when women receive unfair treatment. However, in some cases, reasons such as low productivity might make it a better reason to discriminate against women in the workplace. Women tend to have a lower rate of workplace flexibility as compared to men, and that makes it a better reason for discriminating them.

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Inclusion at Work Panel: report on improving workplace diversity and inclusion

A report from the independent Inclusion at Work Panel setting out how organisations can improve diversity and inclusion practices through evidence.

Report on the Inclusion at Work Panel’s recommendations for improving diversity and inclusion (D&I) practice in the workplace

Annex a: inclusion confident scheme user research findings by workshop, annex b: summary of roundtables held for the inclusion at work panel.

The ‘Inclusion at Work Panel’ was established in June 2023, under action 69 of the Inclusive Britain plan , to tackle bias, ensure fairness and promote inclusive workplaces.

Made up of leaders from the private and public sector, and advised by a leading Harvard academic, the Panel set out to identify effective and ineffective D&I practice, explaining what works, why, and how. 

The panel assessed the evidence on D&I initiatives from peer-reviewed academic research as well as the latest available survey data on D&I practices in UK workplaces. They found that the benefits of D&I in the workplace are widely accepted and significant resources are committed by organisations in pursuit of inclusion. However, organisations continue to adopt D&I interventions that have been shown to have little or no impact, and in some cases are counterproductive or unlawful.

The Inclusion at Work Panel’s report sets out how employers can do away with ineffective, divisive, and poor quality D&I practices, and instead focus resources on interventions backed by the evidence that represent value for money.

The panel concluded its work in December 2023 with its final report published on 20 March 2024.

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Tesla Settles Discrimination Suit With Former Factory Worker

The carmaker and energy company settled with a Black man who had worked at its California factory and had won a $3 million judgment against the company.

By Jack Ewing

Tesla and a former employee have agreed to settle a closely watched lawsuit that cast a harsh light on the carmaker’s treatment of Black workers.

Lawyers for Tesla and for Owen Diaz, who worked at the company’s factory in Fremont, Calif., did not disclose the terms of the settlement in a legal filing on Friday. “The parties have reached an amicable resolution of their disputes,” Lawrence A. Organ, a lawyer for Mr. Diaz, said in an email, adding that he could not comment further.

Last year, a jury in federal court in San Francisco awarded Mr. Diaz $3.2 million after he presented evidence that he had been subject to repeated harassment by supervisors at Tesla’s factory, including being addressed with a racial slur more than 30 times. A supervisor drew a racist caricature near his work station, according to testimony in the case.

Tesla did little to discipline the supervisors or address pervasive racism at the factory, the jury found.

Mr. Diaz appealed, saying that $3.2 million was insufficient compensation for the psychological damage he suffered, including loss of sleep, depression and damaged relations with his wife and son. Mr. Diaz’s lawyers also argued that the award was not sufficient to punish Tesla for failing to stop the harassment.

It was the second trial in the case. In the first, in 2021, jurors awarded Mr. Diaz $137 million, but a judge ruled that the amount was excessive. The second trial last year dealt solely with the amount Mr. Diaz should receive in damages.

In a decision last year, Judge William H. Orrick of U.S. District Court said, “Tesla’s conduct was reprehensible and repeated, and it failed to take responsibility or change its ways during Diaz’s time at the company.” But he ruled that $3.2 million was adequate compensation. Mr. Diaz’s appeal of that ruling was pending when he and Tesla agreed to settle.

In court filings, Tesla lawyers denied that the company had failed to respond to the harassment. “Tesla had clear official policies barring racially discriminatory harassment and did not condone, permit, allow or tolerate such conduct,” Tesla lawyers wrote last year. They did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Jack Ewing writes about the auto industry with an emphasis on electric vehicles. More about Jack Ewing

Driverless Cars and the Future of Transportation

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Along for the Ride: Here’s what New York Times reporters experienced during test rides in driverless cars operated by Tesla , Waymo  and Cruise .

The Future of Transportation?: Driverless cars, once a Silicon Valley fantasy, have become a 24-hour-a-day reality in San Francisco . “The Daily” looked at the unique challenges of coexisting with cars that drive themselves .

Stressing Cities: In San Francisco and Austin, Texas, where passengers can hail autonomous taxis, the vehicles are starting to take a toll on city services , even slowing down emergency response times.

A Fast Rise and Fall: Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, wanted to grow fast. Now, the company faces safety concerns  as it contends with angry regulators, anxious employees and skepticism about the viability of the business .

Racial Discrimination at the Workplace Essay

Introduction, proposed change, background and history, opposition and refutations, works cited.

Racial discrimination is a common occurrence throughout the world. Individuals are discriminated based on the color of their skin. Some races are discriminated based on various factors. Human rights organizations have come out strongly in opposition to any form of inequity.

In the current age of globalization and the onset of the global village, many people from different racial backgrounds are finding their way into other countries in search of better employment terms. This fact has made the contemporary workplace the most diverse that has ever been created. The emergence of racial diversity has led to the problem of racial discrimination, where people are mistreated or harassed based on the color of their skin.

Developed countries such as those in North America and Europe have managed to attract a large population of colored people. These people have come in search of jobs and other services such as education while others, such as the black race in North America are the products of the slave trade.

These continents have reported higher incidences of racial discrimination compared to other parts of the world (Racial Discrimination in the United States Past and Present 1). The workplace in these regions is among the leading areas where discrimination occurs. Therefore, this essay looks at racial discrimination in the workplace by focusing mainly on developed nations.

The main change that is discussed in this essay is the introduction of legislation that will see the creation of a special authority that is aimed at guaranteeing the freedom of all workers at the workplace. There is a need for the federal government to enact legislation that spells out the punishments for people who discriminate others at the workplace based on their race.

The legislation also needs to create a special body that will have branches in all states. The body will provide a place where employees can report racial discrimination cases in the light of the ineffectiveness of the existing legislation and bodies that are charged with reducing racial discrimination.

This essay focuses on the necessary change in the workplace that is required to overcome the problem of discrimination. Some of the changes envisioned in this essay include the reduction in the different types of discrimination at the workplace. There have been many reports on workplace discrimination where individuals are differentiated based on their race (U.S. Department of Labor 1).

Racial discrimination may occur at any stage in employment, starting at the recruitment phase where employees are denied work because of their racial affiliations.

In fact, “discrimination today ranges from simply not calling people for a job interview because their non-Anglo or African-American names happen to be Manuel, Mohammed, or Jaquetta” (Weatherspoon and Isaac 2). In this case, the employer complains that employing a certain individual will be bad, and against the company’s policy.

Racial discrimination also affects many races, with the most commonly discriminated races being the black and other colored people (U.S. Department of Labor 1). In the case of the United States of America, the most widely discriminated race is the black race (U.S. Department of Labor 1). This state has a long history of slavery where the black population was sold to work in farms and other industries.

After the end of slavery, most of the black population became citizens and had the right to basic services and employment, just like other citizens. The discrimination of the black race takes many forms at the workplace in the US. Lewis confirms that the most common form is a failure to hire individuals based on their racial affiliation (‘Identifying Discrimination’ 9).

Most companies that have advertised for posts for various positions usually have to carry out interviews and select the employees that are most qualified and skilled to work in these positions (Lewis ‘Identifying Discrimination’ 27). Some of the black applicants have reported various forms of discrimination at the workplace, including being denied employment despite being more qualified than the rest of the applicants to the same position.

The black employees that can be employed also report various forms of racial discrimination, such as being called racial names and having to work longer about their non-black counterparts. This form of discrimination needs to be abolished in the workplace.

The suggested claim is that there should be the enactment of a new law on the federal level to prevent and punish people who are suspected of racism. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reveals, “The law’s prohibitions should include harassment or any other employment action” (par. 3).

There is a need for the federal government to create a new law that outlines the different punishments for employees who practice racism at the workplace. The law needs to be based on the basic freedom to which every citizen is entitled. This freedom should be protected even at the workplace.

This law also needs to be structured in a way that special authority is created to investigate and prosecute employers and employees who practice racism in the United States.

There are different effects that this proposed solution would have on the racial discrimination of employees at the workplace in the United States. It is likely to have a reduction in the number of incidents where employees are discriminated at the workplace in the US. The other effect is that there is a likelihood of having employers reduce the racial profiling that is evident in most places of work in this region.

The implementation of the law against employment discrimination at the workplace will improve the overall discrimination in the country that is known for its racial profiling. There are many incidents of racial discrimination against some races, even away from the work environment. The law will go a long way in reducing this situation.

Without the introduction of this law, the discrimination against employees at the workplace is likely to continue. It is likely that employers will continue to offer limited spaces for different races due to racial influence. The legal system is also likely to have sustained suits where individuals are blamed for racial actions at the workplace.

The injustice of racial discrimination will continue if the law is not enacted and authority established to take care of the racial discrimination in the workplace. The introduction of this special law to tackle the problem of racial discrimination in the workplace will have significant results in the reduction of the same issue.

Without this authority, the federal government has little control over employee discrimination at the workplace in the US. Racial discrimination is an important human rights issue that any developed nation should be prepared to counter. The US should use this authority to take care of the problem. The other main reason for the racial discrimination at the workplace is the mentality that has been held by citizens about the different races.

Different studies have found that the population has different opinions about different races. This situation affects the way they view these races, even in the workplace. The established authority will be an important source of education for citizens by ensuring that they respect the rights of other individuals who are of different races at the workplace.

Racial discrimination is not a new finding at the workplaces in the United States. It dates back to the years of slavery in this place (Racial Discrimination in the United States Past and Present 1). The white class discriminated the black population based on the inferior nature that they perceived of this group.

During those days of slavery, merchants could buy black people from Africa as servants to work for their masters in the various farms around the United States. The white population saw itself as the rightful owner of the land. Therefore, it could mistreat the black population that was thought to be inferior.

The racial discrimination against the Indians in the US was driven by their desire to control the land that was initially theirs. The white colonizers took large chunks of land from the Indians, with the latter being forced to move to other less favorable areas or work for the whites as their masters. Those who chose to work for the white masters were often mistreated.

The main reason for the discrimination was the whites’ perception that the Indians were inferior to the white people (The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission par. 6). Racial discrimination continued even after the United States attained its independence. The Indians and the blacks were racially discriminated in the workplace, with less favorable conditions at the working stations.

The other races, such as those that moved into the US from Mexico or Asia mainly came here to offer their services in the construction industry that was experiencing significant growth at that time. The nation was in the process of building many industries and infrastructure.

These individuals were required to participate in the construction of various projects. Since the individuals were different in color from the white inhabitants, they were discriminated based on this parameter, hence confirming Lewis’ claims that the case of color prejudice is becoming rampant in courtyards (par.1).

With the abolishing of slavery and the introduction of the constitution that defined the rights of the citizens, racial discrimination significantly reduced in most of the urban centers where authorities were enforcing these rights and freedoms. However, the recognition of different races in the workplace took long. Employers reserved the right to employ workers who pleased them.

Most employers were reluctant to employ the different races that were present in the market. They preferred employing the dominant white race. This brought about several problems with racial discrimination in the workplace.

Since the discriminated races were few at the workplace, their fellow employees would easily target them, with racial sentiments being made against them. The employer could also offer difficult tasks for these races as compared to what their counterparts were required to do. This brought about the persistent problem of discrimination in the workplace.

Some scholars have suggested that discrimination at the workplace was used as a form of security for the dominant race where they could racially discriminate other races to ensure that they did not take the limited jobs that were present (Racial Discrimination in the United States Past and Present 1).

This strategy was a way of defending the few jobs that were available in public, as well as the private sectors. The current prevalence of racial discrimination resulted from historical injustices and racial stereotyping.

First Opposition

Different opposing arguments have been advanced against the introduction of law and authority to take care of the rampant racial discrimination in the United States. One of the arguments is that the law will be hard to enforce since employers in this state are at liberty to employ individuals that they see as being fit to run their organizations (Racial Discrimination in the United States Past and Present 2).

The opposition is that the introduction of such a law will be against the policies and business environment in the country, which are aimed at protecting the employer and enhancing the productivity of their businesses.

If employers are made to choose employees by any authority, such as the proposed one, opponents claim that this move will affect their performance and contribute towards further discrimination in the places that were not initially willing to take the employees.

First Refutation

In refuting this claim to the opposition, many ways can be used to apply the law without forcing employers to employ individuals that they view as being inadequate to work at their workplace. One way that employers can be challenged in reducing racial discrimination in the workplace through this law is to make them give reasons for rejecting employees in interviews.

This strategy can ensure that the authority is aware of the reasons and that it can weigh them about the race-based claims made by the potential employees. This case can also be an added advantage for the employers since they can use these reasons to defend themselves in a court of law if accused of racial discrimination in the employee selection process.

Second Opposition

The second opposition to the creation of such authority and law against the racial discrimination of individuals is that it will bear significant costs to implement. The enforcement of laws requires a dedicated public and aggressive legal system.

The federal government will also need to train several individuals to ensure that the legislation is being respected in the areas where there is a likelihood of racial discrimination at the workplace. This effort will require significant financial input, with the deferral government being responsible for the same.

The opponents are also likely to claim that the government is spending highly on the measures that are aimed at preventing racial discrimination along many fronts and that the implementation of such a law will contribute towards increasing the wage bill.

The measures used to fight the human right abuse in most parts of the world have usually necessitated large inputs in the form of financing. The involved governments have always footed this bill (U.S. Department of Labor 1). This may be the reason for the claim against the proposed legislation to curb racial discrimination in the workplace.

Second Refutation

This assertion, just like the one before it, is refutable based on the several counterarguments that can be used to this effect. It is a fact that legislation to protect the basic rights of individuals may be expensive in the beginning. The benefits of the legislation are more than the financial costs that might be incurred by any nation.

With the introduction of this legislation to guard against racial discrimination at the workplace, the races in the US will be empowered. This situation will bring about improvement in their socio-economic status (U.S. Department of Labor 1). This improvement will be a positive one in the US in general since citizens will be able to contribute effectively to nation-building.

Third Opposition

The third opposing claim is that the introduction of legislation to reduce racial discrimination will be ineffective. The basis for this argument is that many laws exist that prohibit the practice of racial discrimination in the United States, just like in many parts of the world. These laws have had little effect of racial discrimination at the workplace in the places where it is still rampant.

The claim that racial discrimination has not been reduced by any legislation is also based on the existing legislation on the international front where global bodies have formulated laws to prevent it (Racial Discrimination in the United States Past and Present 1).

For example, the UN is one of the bodies that are active in the formulation of laws that protect the rights of every individual. The workplaces that have been reported to have incidents of racial discrimination also have their own set of rules. Some of these rules are supposed to prevent such a problem. The opponents will use these facts to argue against such legislation.

Third Refutation

The claim that previous legislation has not been effective in reducing racial discrimination in the workplace is valid. The only difference is that the previous legislation has not had the authority in support of the laws. Few individuals were available to enforce it.

The international laws against any form of discrimination have also been ineffective because they have not received support from many quarters. Therefore, the federal authority should commit to keeping this legislation by creating a special body that will oversee the implementation of this law.

If implemented appropriately, racial discrimination at the places of work is likely to decrease over the next few years. However, the problem of racial discrimination at the workplace will remain a big predicament in areas where the law is not able to reach, including the areas that are traditionally known to have high levels of racial discrimination.

The federal authorities should also ensure that they increase funding for the programs that train individuals against racial discrimination at the workplace. This strategy will contribute to the reduction in the number of incidents at the workplaces.

In conclusion, discrimination in the workplace is one of the contemporary problems that affect many parts of the world. People are often discriminated based on the color of their skin and the racial background with which they are associated. This essay has established that many organizations have put in place measures that are aimed at eliminating the problem of racial discrimination at the places of work.

However, the problem is persistent. The essay has proposed the introduction of a federal law that is to take care of the problem. Authority is also to be established to take care of this rampant human rights problem. Three arguments against the move have been advanced. These claims have been refuted using several counterarguments. If this measure is implemented, it is likely that racial discrimination at the workplace will reduce in the next few years.

Lewis, Jackson. Skin Color Bias is growing as a Basis for Discrimination Claims, 2004. Web.

Lewis, Tamara. Identifying Discrimination in Employment, 2008. Web.

Racial Discrimination in the United States Past and Present . Reach For tolerance , n.d. Web.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employment Discrimination Based on Religion, Ethnicity, or Country of Origin , n.d. Web.

U.S. Department of Labor. Know Your Rights: Workplace Rights, 2013. Web.

Weatherspoon, Floyd, and Kendall Isaac. Resolving Race Discrimination in Employment Disputes through Mediation: A Win-win for all Parties, n.d. Web.

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