Discrimination

1
Discrimination

• Decisions made on the basis of characteristics
  which are not relevant to the position,
• which result in harm suffered by persons
• on the basis of membership in a protected
  class--group which has historically been
  discriminated against.

2
Forms of Discrimination

• Intentional
• Deliberate and conscious, based on negative
  stereotypes about group
• Unconscious
• Not deliberate, but unconsciously based on
  negative stereotypes

3
Forms of Discrimination

• Individual
• Committed by an individual or group of individual
  either deliberately or unconsciously
• Institutional
• The result of institutional practices of an
  organization
• .e.g., nomination by current member,
  organizational culture, merit defined in terms of
  factors that are not equally represented in all
  affected groups.

4
Federal Discrimination Law Prohibits

• Unfair treatment because of your race, color,
  religion, sex (including pregnancy), national
  origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic
  information.
• Harassment by managers, co-workers, or others in
  your workplace, because of factors above.
• Denial of a reasonable workplace accommodation
  that you need because of your religious beliefs
  or disability.
• Retaliation because you complained about job
  discrimination, or assisted with a job
  discrimination investigation or lawsuit.
• http//www.eeoc.gov/employees/index.cfm

5
Federal Law

• Civil Rights Act of 1964, 1991 prohibits
  discrimination on the basis of
• Race, color, religion, sex or national origin
• Age Discrimination Act of 1967 prohibits
  discrimination on the basis of age (over 40)
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits
  discrimination on the basis of disability.

6
Federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978)

• women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or
  related medical conditions shall be treated the
  same for all employment-related purposes,
  including receipt of benefits under fringe
  benefit programs, as other persons not so
  affected but similar in their ability or
  inability to work. http//www.eeoc.gov/laws/statut
  es/pregnancy.cfm

7
Evidence of Discrimination

• Statistical
• Numerical analysis that suggests that groups are
  treated or affected differently.
• Problem- one must rule out other explanations.
• Evidence showing deliberate intention in a
  particular case
• Various documents, conversations, compensation
  patterns etc.
• Problem-this evidence is often not available and
  this places a heavy burden on victims.

8
Problems proving a federal discrimination case

• Supreme Court has usually required plaintiffs to
  show deliberate discrimination-that the employer
  was consciously motivated by racial or other
  bias.
• Supreme Court has usually rejected cases where
  the plaintiff does not provide such evidence.

9
Problems proving a case

• Employers know the law and suppress evidence of
  disparate treatment.
• Bias is likely to be unconscious rather than
  deliberate and conscious.

10
California Law

• Prohibits harassment and discrimination on the
  basis of
• Age (40 and over), ancestry, color, creed, denial
  of Family and Medical Care Leave, disability,
  medical condition (cancer and genetic
  characteristics), national origin, marital
  status, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation,
  and gender expression. http//www.dfeh.ca.gov/equa
  lrights101.htm

11
Pregnancy Discrimination

• California Fair Employment and Housing Act
• explicitly prohibits employers from harassing,
  demoting, terminating, or otherwise
  discriminating against any employee for becoming
  pregnant, or for requesting or taking pregnancy
  leave.
• California Pregnancy Disability Leave Law
  ("PDLL")
• requires California employers to provide up to 4
  months of leave for employees actually disabled
  by pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions,
  even if the employer's policies do not grant
  employees suffering from other short-term
  disabilities a similar amount of leave.

12
Compliance

• Compliance consists of making sure your
  organization is not violating any laws or
  regulations
• Reasons for caring about compliance
• Risk management
• Lawsuits
• Penalties can include fines, bad publicity,
  ongoing oversight, being cut off as government
  contractor

13
Inclusiveness

• Inclusiveness means going beyond mere compliance
  to creating a workplace that
• Is open to all,
• nurtures individual talent,
• is harmonious,
• is effective and cohesive.

14
Why value inclusiveness?

• It has good consequences.
• It increases the pool of talented people.
• It is good for morale.
• It improves interaction with diverse
  stakeholders e.g. suppliers, customers.
• It respects each person.
• It is the basis for a harmonious, caring
  organization.

15
Why value inclusiveness?

• It encourages virtuous action by
• Allowing each person to take responsibility
• Encouraging people to treat each other with
  kindness
• Encouraging people to develop pride in their
  accomplishments
• rather than in their place in the organization.
• It is fair.

16
Responding to Discrimination

• Compensation
• Punishment
• Prevention

17
Affirmative Action

• Action taken to compensate victims of
  discrimination.
• victims must provide evidence of discrimination
• direct evidence vs. numerical evidence
• Action taken to prevent future discrimination.
• potential victims must be identified
• procedures to measure effectiveness of actions.

18
Affirmative Action Plan

• Employers are required to develop and file AAP
  with U.S. and State governments, depending on
  number of employees.
• AAP typically includes
• Workforce analysis
• Availability
• Identification of problems
• Solutions
• Strategy and structure for implementation

19
Summary

• Discrimination is illegal and risky.
• Compliance is everyones job.
• Inclusiveness is in everyones interest.
• Creating an inclusive workplace requires on-going
  efforts.