...the same opportunity or treated unfairly based on their personal characteristics it is called discrimination. Discrimination in any form should never be taken lightly and if proven can have severe consequences. At some point, every individual has most likely suffered from being discriminated against. Some forms of discrimination are illegal, especially in the workplace. I have chosen a scenario that depicts more than one form of discrimination. Maria, is a person of Latino ancestry, a second generation native-born American citizen with a graduate degree. She has been with her current company for 10 years has filed a complaint for being unfairly eliminated for consideration for a promotion, because of her distinctive accent. Not only does Maria face discrimination, because of her strong cultural background evidenced by her accent but, because of her race, and gender as well. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), they are “responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. It is also illegal to discriminate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit” (Overview, n.d.). According to Zimmermann, “Culture is the characteristics...
Words: 2057 - Pages: 9
...Discrimination in the Workplace Workplace discrimination has been around for years. However, there are laws that try to protect employees from that type of behavior today. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (EDNA) prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on gender, race, disability, and recently included, sexual orientation (Anonymous, 2009). Yet despite existing laws about discrimination, many employees still suffer from some type of discrimination or harassment in the workplace. I will discuss the most common types of discrimination and some solutions that may work in your organization. Sexism is still prevalent even in 2009. For example co-authors Levitt and Dubner were featured on ABC’s 20/20 promoting their new book called Super Freakonomics which is the sequel to their original book called Freakonomics. On the show Steven Levitt stated that, “Women’s liberation has been great for high end prostitutes but not for our children.”(2009) Levitt and Dubner believe that in the 1940’s, more than half of Americas brightest women were schoolteachers. Now they have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, and bankers. Therefore, teachers are now left up people that are not as qualified. Levitt stated that successful women with MBA’s end up marrying men with MBA’s and staying home. This is the reason they are not paid as well. They believe that men are motivated by money and women are motivated by families. The authors go on to say that it is not discrimination that caused...
Words: 804 - Pages: 4
...Discrimination in the Workplace Joshua Najar Alejandro Komiyama Liria Nilzandra *out of country* Texas Tech University Sociology 1301, Section 004 November 7, 2015 The United States likes to believe that everyone living in it is equal to one another. Unfortunately, even in today’s world discrimination is still prevalent in our society. James Henslin, author of the book “Essentials of Sociology” defines discrimination as “an act of unfair treatment directed against an individual or a group” (G-2). One specific place in our society that still has discrimination is the workplace. A workplace can be described as “a place where people work, such as an office or factory” (Dictionary.com 2015). A company’s workplace can discriminate against a person’s race, ethnicity, gender, age, and religion. These discriminations will affect the person’s salary, work conditions, and determine if they get hired or not. Throughout time the United States has made several laws to protect certain groups against discrimination in the workplace. These laws have tremendously helped those groups however, they are still illegally discriminated against. There are numerous ways to analyze why there is discrimination in the workplace but we will be using the three sociologic perspectives. The three sociologic perspectives that we will use to analyze this topic will be the Structural Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interaction. The Structural Functionalist Analysis will focus on how discrimination...
Words: 1666 - Pages: 7
...Rights Act of 1964 and various state anti-discrimination laws prohibit discrimination in employment based on sex, race, national origin, and religion. James and Minors (1996) conclude that although most organizations believe in equal opportunity policies, they do not practice inclusion. Most of these organizations struggle with issues of gender, race, sexual orientation, and disability of their employees. Many of these organizations develop institutional racism which closes the door for employment for many people of color. The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2009 received 93,277 charges of discrimination. The workplace in the 21st century has transformed. The transformation is evident by the changing ethnic, racial, age, and gender of today’s workforce. With today’s diverse workforce there emerges three major forms of discrimination in the workplace: racial, gender, and age. The paper takes a closer look at discrimination in the workplace as it relates to race, gender, and age. The major premise of the paper is this: Does racial discrimination persists now more than ever? Has gender discrimination against working women declined? Has age discrimination in the workplace increased? I. Does racial discrimination persists now more than ever? According to Kasey Jones (2010), racial discrimination is the improper and unfair treatment of a worker due to his or her race, color or religion. Workplace decisions that are based on stereotypes of...
Words: 1884 - Pages: 8
...BEHAVIOR DISCRIMINATION AT WORKPLACE DESCRIPTION OF EVENT OR INCIDENT The workplace is a significant part of an individual’s life that affects his or her life and the well-being of the community. The average adult spends much of his or her life working, as much as a quarter or perhaps a third of his waking life in work. As much as a fifth to a quarter of the variation in adult life, satisfaction can be accounted for by satisfaction with work (Campbell, Converse, & Rodgers, 1976). The workplace diversity is increasing more than ever before. Almost all employees face some problem at their workplace. There are various kinds of problems that a person could come across in his or her workplace. The workplace event or incident that we are going to discuss here is based on discrimination at the workplace. Discrimination at the workplace means subjecting an employee, on the basis of reasons such as race, religion, gender, or nationality, to behavior or treatment that puts him or her at disadvantage as compared to other employees, or causes physical or mental discomfort (Katz & Moore, 2004). Discrimination by race, of course, is still common, though it varies for different races. Discrimination at workplace is unethical, besides being illegal in many countries. In addition, workplace discrimination is also likely to impact the employee morale, motivation and the good will of a company adversely. The awareness on discriminatory behaviors in the workplace has been increasing...
Words: 2039 - Pages: 9
...DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE Introduction Background Discrimination is always been the issues that widely debate among people, no matter they are employees, company executives or authorities from labor union, and even though plenty of methods has been carried out the discrimination still exist in workplace nowadays. The definition of discrimination is commonly means the act of treating other people differently based on gender, age, marital status, race or physical appearance regardless of their capability and qualification in doing the jobs. There are many problems that might arises for fresh graduates in workplace from the act of discrimination, such as dissatisfaction due to unfair treatment, loss of self-esteem or morale, isolation caused by bias, unnecessary overload stress, restricted opportunity for uncovering talents, and poor loyalty towards company. Therefore, it is vital for any company to eliminate the prejudices among society that leads to workplace discrimination in order to boost performance and improve mutual trust between employers and employees. Purpose The purpose of our research is to: 1. Investigate and identify the reasons that may create discrimination in the workplace for fresh graduates. 2. Use the result of research to form applicable guides or rules that can help them to handle and reduce the phenomenon of workplace discrimination. Method There are two method that we will use for this investigation are through survey using questionnaires...
Words: 1876 - Pages: 8
...DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE Discrimination in the workplace has been present throughout history and has branched into various forms in the past and existing time periods. Individuals suffer losses and are jobless because of discrimination. Discrimination happens when an employee is treated unfavorably because of their race, skin color, gender, disability, religion, or age. There are four discrimination types that can be identified, they are disparate treatment, disparate impact, pattern or practice, and retaliation. Disparate treatment discrimination exists when individuals in similar situations are treated differently and when the differential treatment is based on the individual’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability status (Giffin, 2008). An employee with the same skills of other employees may not get to benefit like others because the victim may have a different religion, is an example of disparate treatment discrimination. If this employee tries to file a charge, they must prove that there was a discriminatory motive. Some companies can treat a member differently when bona fide occupational qualification exists for performing a particular job. Disparate impact discrimination is when an employment practice is neural and non-discriminatory in its intention but, disproportionately affects individuals having a disability or belonging to a particular group. An example of this discrimination is if the job requires a person to be strong...
Words: 1574 - Pages: 7
...Disability Discrimination In The Workplace Joe Walters University of Phoenix Dr. Casey Reason May 15, 2013 Introduction The prevalence of disability discrimination in today’s workforce is an important topic in any place of employment. Surveys have been conducted that reveal nearly twenty percent of employers believe that the most significant barriers that disabled people face in finding and securing employment are inaccurate stereotypes and negative attitudes (Roessler, et al., 2007). When individuals are not employed because of some disability, it denies the disabled worker the right to earn an income to provide for their needs as well as their families and it deprives individuals of contributing to society (McCary, 2005). McCary points out that 21 million Americans with disabilities is the largest minority population in the United States. 20 years after the American with Disabilities Act was signed into law, nearly 40 percent of working-age men and women with disabilities were unemployed (2005). As a response to the high rate of unemployment, in 1990 the American with Disabilities Act was passed (ADA) (Ledvinka, 2010). This paper focuses on the importance of disabled people in the workplace, the role that legislation has played to stop discrimination, and what can be done to prevent future discrimination. Court Cases and Legal Protection In 1973 Congress passed the Vocational Rehabilitation Act to regulate issues concerning disability...
Words: 1549 - Pages: 7
...Prevent Discrimination in the Workplace Even today, discrimination is prevalent in several countries around the world. There are people living in societies that have a bias against individuals who possess certain immutable characteristics concerning race, sex, and gender. One of those countries is the United States of America. Fortunately, the public’s acceptance of marriage equality has gained substantial traction in the past 20 years, especially after President Obama announced his public support in 2012 as noted by Hackl, Boyer and Galupo (521). Sherkat, Mattias de Vries, and Creek conclude that this trend will continue (361). The right for same-sex couples to marry is gaining nationwide acceptance and the legalization of same-sex marriage...
Words: 2134 - Pages: 9
...The example of discrimination/stereo-typing I found was on my Twitter account referring to Sean Spicer’s tweet. The tweet reads, “The President’s transgender troops ban has nothing to do with discrimination. We don’t have the adequate glitter stockpiles.” Reading further comments to the tweet they exclaimed that being transgender is a mental illness and how they could not believe they mentally got cleared to be in the military. This discriminating tweet was posted early yesterday morning and has over 1.5 thousand likes, 335 retweets and 68 comments. I observed the example on my twitter feed when searching for an example of discrimination. When scrolling through the many tweets of discrimination this one stood out to me the most because Sean...
Words: 339 - Pages: 2
...Employment Law: Workplace Racial Discrimination October 3, 2011 Employment Law: Workplace Racial Discrimination A number of federal and state laws prohibit racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is the practice of letting a person's race or skin color unfairly become a factor when deciding who receives a job, promotion, or other employment benefit. It most often affects minority individuals who feel they have been unfairly discriminated against in favor of a Caucasian (or white) individual, but there have been recent cases where whites have claimed that reverse discrimination has occurred—that is, the minority received unfairly favorable treatment at the expense of the white individual. Racial discrimination in the workplace has been a challenging issue for the United States since awareness rose in the 1960s. Blacks and other minority workers have faced intimidation, harassment and subtler forms of racism such as the difficulty of landing a job or promotion, even when they have the requisite qualifications. The United States has been actively combating racial discrimination in the workplace for 46 years, yet challenges remain. Many people do not really know much information on how racial discrimination at workplaces may take place, but many concerns can be answered with these following questions: 1. How long has racial discrimination at workplaces been going on for? 2. What are the laws on racial discrimination about? 3. What are some reasons for racial discrimination...
Words: 1850 - Pages: 8
...Employment Discrimination | Employment discrimination simply means imbalanced and biased treatment meted out to some employees on the basis of prejudice. This has been an important and grave issue of concern for companies across the world. Such discrimination occurs when an employer singles out any one employee or a group on the basis of age, race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion and other reasons. Workplace discrimination can take place in a number of forms that include illegal hiring and firing, on-the-job harassment, denial of a worker’s promotions or raises and unequal pay. For this reason, several laws have been created to protect the people from discrimination and retaliation from their employers. Read on to know the different types of discrimination in the workplace. Gender Discrimination Also known as sexual discrimination or sex-based discrimination, gender discrimination takes place when one gender is preferred over the other. In this case, one employee is treated in an unfair manner or inequitable manner by his employer, on the basis of the employee’s gender. Racial Discrimination Racial discrimination is the most common form of employment discrimination. Employees are treated harshly or differently based on their race or ethnicity. Though there are laws that prohibit employers to deny a job-seeker employment opportunity because of his/her racial group and characteristics, it is a common practice in most of the workplaces. Age Discrimination...
Words: 1811 - Pages: 8
...I. Introduction Although the federal government enacted laws to eliminate gender discrimination in the workplace, it remains an issue on several levels. Specifically, women find themselves the victims of discrimination simply because of their gender. Although there are anti-discrimination laws in place, many employers still find ways around them. Currently, the courts simply award monetary compensation to those women who sue current or former employers. However, businesses found guilty of committing the crime of gender discrimination must endure stricter operating sanctions. The author was witness to the unethical and illegal treatment of a former elderly female employee whose work ethic was exemplary. The former employee (Shelly) received constant positive feedback from clients, students, and peers. She was employee of the year for three consecutive years because of her innate ability to settle disputes amicably. Shortly after her promotion to Assistant Director, the department hired a new instructor who was also an alumnus. He made it very clear that he disagreed with Shelly’s methods and relationship with the students and clinical coordinators. Overtime he demonstrated his ability to build a rapport with the coordinators and other program official; he was very ambitious. His relationship with Shelly bordered aggression and antagonism, but she remained professional and focused. However, when the coordinators began complaining about her performance to the Director...
Words: 1796 - Pages: 8
...Another step HR can take to prevent discrimination is to encourage cooperation and friendly, professional work relationships by creating diverse departments or work areas throughout the company. Make sure employees know where to report any incidents of discrimination. Be sure to list the name of the Human Resources staff member that can document the complaint or report and is able to answer any questions or respond to concerns the employee may have. It is important that the HR staff member informs the manager or supervisor about the employees mentioned in the complaint so that the manager is informed and can schedule a private meeting with the employee to explain that they will have to answer the complaint. Be sure that all employees know that discrimination complaints are taken very seriously and addressed in a professional manner. Make any decisions regarding disciplinary action in a timely manner so that employees are not left to wonder what the outcome of the situation will be. Another step HR can take to prevent discrimination is to encourage cooperation and friendly, professional work relationships by creating diverse departments or work areas throughout the company. Make sure employees know where to report any incidents of discrimination. Be sure to list the name of the Human Resources staff member that can document the complaint or report and is able to answer any questions or respond to concerns the employee may have. It is important that the HR...
Words: 717 - Pages: 3
...Bharat Mishra from Western Michigan University and Jitendra Mishra from Grand Valley wrote Discrimination in the Workplace. In their research, they identified that age and obesity is an issue that companies are violating. “Age discrimination in employment Act 1967.” (ADEA) (B. Mishra & J. Mishra, 2015). The ADEA protects the employees that are in a company with 20 or more members with the minimum of 40 years or older, but it does not protect the obesity members. January 2004, 44 percent of the workforce are people that are 55 age an older. The hiring and firing members are being bias against the elder workforce. During an investigation of this type of discrimination several companies’ complaint, “Older workers are less productive, less ambitious,...
Words: 305 - Pages: 2
