Racial Discrimination in Walnut Creek, CA
Types of Racism in the Workplace
Sometimes, it couldn’t be more obvious when racism is taking place in the office or throughout a company. Disparaging remarks made to people of a certain race about their skin color or other racial characteristics or stereotypes don’t leave much room for question, but what about other, more insidious forms of racism?
Not everyone recognizes policies that—whether they mean to or not—end up holding back certain racial groups. There may not be clear-cut discrimination that everyone can recognize, but the impact on people based on race still exists.
In Walnut Creek, discrimination law protects you against different types of racism at work, whether it’s blatant or not.
Classifying Race Discrimination in Walnut Creek
The two types of race discrimination in the workplace are disparate treatment and disparate impact.
Disparate Treatment
Disparate treatment is the more obvious kind of racism. It is intentional discrimination, i.e. when someone is treated differently because of their race or ethnicity, that treatment is unlawful.
The law does not care if a case of disparate treatment is proven with direct or circumstantial evidence, although certain jurors might, despite being specifically instructed to give equal weight to either.
Nancy Balles, A Professional Corporation, helps clients show evidence that proves your case as much as possible. We understand the political energy that surrounds instances of racism and we do our best to make your case.
Disparate Impact
Disparate impact can be harder to recognize. When an employer’s policy which is neutral on its face results in benefits or advantages to one group, but not the other, or excludes certain individuals from consideration, benefits or eligibility, disparate impact exists.
Sometimes, employers don’t even realize the policy is unlawful. There is no intention to discriminate, but discrimination happens anyway.
Our office helps with both kinds of discrimination.
