Under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, employers have a legal duty to keep the workplace free of racial harassment. Race-based harassment typically includes bias that is expressed or communicated through relations in the workplace that make the work environment intolerable. Examples include racial slurs and epithets, demeaning stereotypes and “jokes”, hostile conduct (such as displaying racially offensive symbols), and discrimination based on how one wears their hair (under the CROWN Act). To prove a racially hostile work environment, an employee must show that the conduct was (1) unwelcomed; (2) due to race; (3) sufficiently severe or pervasive as to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment; and (4) imputable conduct to the employer. Conduct is imputable to the employer if the harasser is a supervisor, or if the employer knew or should have known of such conduct by a non-supervisor and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.
If you have been discriminated, retaliated, or harassed based on your race, national origin, color, ancestry, or religious creed, you may be entitled to compensation for lost wages, lost career opportunities, emotional distress, and punitive damages if your employer acted with malice, oppression or fraud. Your rights are still protected, and you may still be entitled to damages, even if your employer alleges that you were terminated for performance issues or selected in a layoff or reduction in force.
The content on this website is not legal advice, does not establish an attorney-client relationship, and does not guarantee any particular outcome.
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