Workplace discrimination can either be overt or subliminal; it may be done against you or a coworker. Regardless, you must take the proper actions to fight against it. Read on to discover how to recognize and report workplace discrimination and how a seasoned New York discrimination lawyer at Bell Law Group can guide you through this situation.
How can I recognize workplace discrimination?
There are certain signs to look out for if you, or a coworker, are experiencing workplace discrimination. They read as follows:
- You are facing offensive jokes or comments on your protected class (i.e., race, religion, sex, etc).
- You are receiving lesser pay than your coworkers who are not part of your protected class (i.e., race, religion, sex, etc).
- You are being excluded by your coworkers (i.e., you are left out of meetings or communications relevant to your job, etc).
- You are being held to a different standard than your coworkers (i.e., you are expected to work more hours, produce more work, etc).
- You are being denied job development opportunities by your manager (i.e., you are denied promotions, training opportunities, etc).
- Your workday is abruptly changed by your manager (i.e., you are moved to a less desirable workstation, you are assigned to less desirable tasks, etc).
How can I report workplace discrimination?
Whether you have been made the victim of workplace discrimination or you have merely witnessed it happen to a coworker, it is strongly encouraged that you speak out for justice. The first measure that you should probably take is reporting the incident to your manager. Importantly, this applies so long as your manager was not the offender in the incident. If not, then you may speak to another manager that you feel most comfortable with.
From here, a manager may help you take this complaint to your company’s Human Resources department. This may likely lead to sit-down meetings with the department and filling out all the paperwork that comes with it. The department should then formulate a course of action that prevents such a discriminatory incident from happening again.
However, if nothing results from your internal complaint at your company, then you may want to consider taking more significant measures. That is, you may report the incident of workplace discrimination to the New York Office for Civil Rights and/or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Here, you may provide information should as the date on which the workplace discrimination occurred, its basis, and the exact acts that were made, among other things. Your complaint may prompt these departments to run a formal investigation against your negligent employer.
Soon after, you may ultimately consider filing a lawsuit against your negligent employer. For your workplace discrimination claim, please consider contacting a competent New York employee rights lawyer. Our team at Bell Law Group is ready and willing to assist you.
