What is employment discrimination? Does it still happen today? Has it happened to you? Let’s dive in!

Employment discrimination became prevalent in the United States as a result of widespread civil rights issues. During the mid-twentieth century, race and sex discrimination plagued the nation. As a federal response, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed to protect citizens from experiencing workplace discrimination. This original response has grown and evolved over time to protect a broad range of community groups such as equal pay, age, religion, and disabilities acts. Each state has the governing power to replicate or build a greater scope of protection for its citizens. In many employment discrimination cases, evidence of “disparate treatment” based on race, age, sex, or disability must be present. This leaves room for employers to have more protection than the employees that the act serves to protect. Keeping personal records of mistreatment with dates, time stamps, direct quotes, and screenshots of mistreatment is a tactic that all employees should be made aware of and encouraged to do by employers and state workforce commission offices. The removal of employment discrimination in America may never be achieved in my lifetime - as it hasn’t in the past century. My hope is that frequently oppressed community groups better understand how to combat workplace discrimination and learn from others who have experienced similar disparities.

Zimmer, M. J., Sullivan, C. A., & Bornstein, S. (2022). Cases and materials on employment discrimination. Wolters Kluwer.

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