“Discrimination is a plague that hamstrings corporate productivity and
steals the dignity of all mankind. Is that a definition of
‘Un-American’?”
The prototypical discrimination claim is for
race discrimination or sex discrimination. The first
anti-discrimination laws passed in this country were directed at race
discrimination, which now includes both employment discrimination and
housing discrimination. 42 U.S.C. §1981 which prohibits race
discrimination in the making and performance of contracts was passed
shortly after the Civil War. Because employment is a kind of contract,
the employment lawyer uses §1981 to pursue race discrimination and
wrongful termination cases. Title VII was note passed until the early
1960’s and was the first federal law to address sex discrimination in
the context of employment. Putting aside sexual harassment law which
grew out of Title VII, race and sex discrimination claims are handled
in a very similar manner using either the direct or indirect method of
proof.
In the context of employment discrimination, race and
sex discrimination come in many forms including: denial of overtime
work, denial of or limited bonuses, wrongful termination (although
wrongful termination claims are more typical in race discrimination
than sex discrimination cases), poor evaluations, differential
discipline, and even outright harassment. The key to any kind of
employment discrimination claim is that the victim is of a particular
race and sex. (A man or a white person could just as easily have a
reverse discrimination claim is a woman or an African-American commits
the discrimination).
Let’s hear your comments on the topic.