Racial Discrimination Still Alive, But Protections in Place

Civil Rights & Human Rights
Racial Discrimination Still Alive, But Protections in Place
By Laura Lozano
Mar 3, 2006, 15:58

Racial discrimination continues to be a major problem in the United States, but proving it occurred can be difficult.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, religion and national origin.

From 1992 to 2005, the average percentage of race discrimination charges filed per year is 35.9 percent of the total claims filed under the protected categories. On the other hand, the average percentage of sex discrimination charges is 30.2 percent and the average percentage of religion discrimination charges is 2.4 percent.

“While we've made some headway in 40 years, by no means has racial discrimination ended, there's examples, really daily coming into our offices," Public Information Coordinator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Houston District Office Joe Bontke said.

Before an employee decides to file a lawsuit, employment litigation attorney Doug E. Hamel recommends the individual should first examine the treatment they received in order to determine whether or not the individual was discriminated against. Next, an employee should talk to senior managers or the human resources department of the company.

"They need to take a good, honest look at what happened and say, ‘You know, is it really something that I am responsible for as opposed to them being responsible--the employer being responsible?'” Hamel said.

In order to file a racial discrimination lawsuit, an employee must prove the time, location and perpetrator of the incident. Incriminating documents such as a hard copy of an email or a note are good proof racial discrimination took place, although extremely rare. An employee must also show they’ve suffered emotional distress.

So what are the options for an individual who feels they have been discriminated against on the basis of the protected categories?

First, the EEOC is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1964 to enforce anti-discrimination laws.

"As a neutral fact-finding agency, we could investigate the charge, mediate the conflict or conciliate, or even bring it to court and litigate it,” Bontke said. "This service is provided to the public at no cost."

Secondly, an individual can file a claim with the Texas Workforce Commission’s Civil Rights Division. The commission enforces state anti-discrimination laws, but the EEOC has a contract with the agency to avoid the duplication of efforts. The contract that divides the state geographically makes either the state or the federal agency responsible for claims filed in a certain area. Claims filed in Houston are transferred to the EEOC.

"State courts might be more accessible to employees," employment litigation attorney Margie Harris said. But Harris adds this may vary from county to county.

Thirdly, an individual can hire a private attorney. Plaintiff’s lawyers may take a case on a contingency fee, which means they get about 30 to 50 percent of the recovery. On the defense side of the practice, many law firms charge fees based on the services performed hourly and it doesn’t matter whether the case is lost or not.

Before an individual can sue, a private attorney will usually require a right to sue notice issued by the EEOC. When the agency determines that filing a suit in federal court is not in the public’s interest, it will close a case and issue the charging party the notice allowing it to file a lawsuit independently.

Lawsuits can settle in monetary amounts ranging from 100s to millions of dollars. The damages that can be awarded vary greatly. The charging party may be awarded equitable remedies, compensatory damages and punitive damages. Equitable remedies include back pay and court costs. Compensatory damages include out-of-pocket expenses such as job search expenses as well as non-monetary losses such as emotional pain and suffering. Punitive damages are designed to punish employers and deter them from future discrimination, but federal, state and local government employers are not subject to these.

“Most people are savvy enough to know not to use bad words, and so then its not as easy to prove that they are acting from a discriminatory motive,” Harris said.