Articles Posted in Employment Discrimination

The Jersey Journal recently reported about a lawsuit filed by five Hispanic police officers formerly on the Hoboken SWAT team. The suit was settled with a $2 million payout.

It’s sad to see, but discrimination based on race still exists today. There are state and federal laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace based on age, race, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation and many other factors, yet employers continue to make hiring and firing decisions based on factors outside a person’s control, such as their race or family history.New Jersey Employment Lawyers seek to ensure all employees are treated fairly and are employed based on their talents, skills, education and qualifications and not based on their skin tone, age or gender.

In this case, the five officers filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the city in 2007, alleging they were subjected to racial slurs and racially motivated mistreatment. Some of the incidents allegedly occurred during two trips to Louisiana to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

After complaining about the treatment, the officers alleged that officials with the police department retaliated against them.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claims of racial discrimination are among the chief complaints that workers make to the agency, which is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against an employee or job applicant.

In 2010, there were 99,922 charges of workplace discrimination and of them, 35,890 were noted to be related to a person’s race. In the last 10 years, race discrimination claims have increased:

• 2010: 35,890
• 2009: 33,579
• 2008: 33,937
• 2007: 30,510
• 2006: 27,238
• 2005: 26,740
• 2004: 27,696
• 2003: 28,526
• 2002: 29,910
• 2001: 28,912
• 2000: 28,945

That is a 24 percent increase in just a decade. It’s unclear whether this means there are far more instances of racial discrimination in the last decade or whether people are more likely to make reports — legitimate or not.

But this story and others like it show that racial discrimination still exists in the workplace throughout New Jersey and the United States. In 2010, more than 3,300 race-based claims of discrimination were settled and monetary benefits totaled $84.4 million, up from $82.4 million in 2009. Benefits totaled $61.7 million in 2000.

More than 26,000 claims were found to have no reasonable cause in 2010, while the agency found that another 1,300 did have reasonable cause to continue.

In this tough economy, brought on by the Great Recession, many people are thrilled just to have a job. But if a worker faces discrimination on the job or in applying for a job, it is unacceptable and unlawful. Some people will simply take the abuse the unlawful treatment in exchange for having a job. Employers sometimes use the threat of unemployment and bleak job prospects as a way to treat workers unfairly.

These injustices should be fought and consulting with a New Jersey Employment Lawyer is the first step.
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New York lawmakers recently introduced legislation that would make it illegal for businesses to discriminate against unemployed job seekers, Reuters reports.

New Jersey Employment Lawyers understand how difficult it can be to find work right now. Millions of Americans are searching job postings, sending out resumes and hoping for callbacks to get back on their feet. And it’s tragic when companies decide not to hire someone just because they’ve been out of work, the result of which may not even be their fault. Unfortunately, its not against the law. Disqualifying an employee for other reasons — including sex, age or race — is illegal and should be handled by a discrimination attorney in New Jersey.The article says the bill would make the unemployed a protected class under New York law, which would give them the same status as other groups, such as the physically disabled. It would also make it illegal to post job openings and openly discourage unemployed applicants.

This type of discrimination contributes to the increased problem of long-term unemployment, lawmakers said. The New York State Department of Labor reports the unemployment rate was 7.9 percent in April, down almost 1 percent from April 2010.

New York is catching up to New Jersey, which was the first state to ban a form of unemployment discrimination by pushing through a bill that made it illegal for companies to require their applicants be employed. It took effect on June 1. There is no federal statute banning employment discrimination, but a Democratic Representative from Georgia recently introduced the Fair Employment Act, which would prohibit hiring practices based on the unemployed.

All this is good news for job seekers. But while these are improvements to the law, it may not protect you at your job. Employers aren’t always legally required to treat their employees fairly, unless the discrimination is based on religion, race, age, gender physical condition, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran or military status or other legally protected class.
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