Discrimination Litigation Lawyer
It may be hard to believe, but racial discrimination still occurs in the workplace these days. If you believe you have been discriminated against at work because of your race, you may be able to take legal action.
What Defines Race Discrimination?
Race discrimination can take several forms in the workplace. It could include making decisions based on stereotypes of a particular race, segregating employees based on race and treating employees differently because of their race. Here are a few examples of racial discrimination.
- A restaurant only hires white people for server positions and place African-American and Latino workers in the kitchen.
- A marketing firm only promotes white employees to senior management positions.
- Employees tell racist jokes in front of an employee with a different skin color.
- A person of Asian descent applies for secretary position at an office in a predominantly white area. She meets all the requirements, but is told by the employer that she isn’t a good fit. A white applicant with less experience and skills gets hired for the position instead.
How Do You Prove Race Discrimination?
There’s very rarely any direct evidence of race discrimination in the workplace. That’s why these types of cases are tricky to prove. If you believe you were discriminated against for the color of your skin, you have to prove your case indirectly. In order to win a racial discrimination lawsuit, you must prove a prima facie case of discrimination. It consists of four parts:
- You’re in a protected class
- You’re qualified for the job and doing it properly
- You weren’t hired for a job position or faced a negative job action, like termination or demotion
- The person who was hired was a different race
For instance, if you were denied a job and you believe it’s because you are African-American, you have to prove that you were qualified for the position and the person who got it was of a different race.
The employer must then prove that he or she had a nondiscriminatory reason for not hiring you for the position. For example, the employer might claim that you didn’t have the required experience or skills for the position. If he or she is unable to do this, you may be able to successfully prove discrimination.
Hiring an Employment Lawyer
As mentioned above, proving racial discrimination isn’t easy. That’s why it may be important to hire an experienced employment lawyer to take your case. He or she may have likely handled similar cases to yours in the past and knows the type of evidence you need to prove your case.
We understand how difficult it must be to be the victim of racial discrimination. A discrimination litigation lawyer in Washington, DC, such as from Eric Siegel Law, is skilled and wants to help you get justice.