Minnesota employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees for their race, heritage, or country of origin. If you have been denied a job, promotion, or terminated because of racial profiling or discrimination, our attorneys can help.

Despite social awareness and campaigns against racism and racial profiling, race discrimination in the workplace continues to be problematic in Minnesota and nationwide. In 2018, over 30% of all charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission office in Minnesota asserted claims of discrimination based on race. This is an astonishing number considering state and federal laws guarding against race discrimination were enacted more than 50 years ago.

What is race discrimination?

Race discrimination is any form of disparate treatment, harassment, or other unfavorable treatment based on the racial identity of an employee. It may occur when an employer treats an employee unfavorably because of race, color or characteristics unique to one’s race including skin color/pigmentation, hair texture or facial features. Employees are protected from discrimination based on race and color under both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) and the Minnesota Human Rights Act (“MHRA”).

Is racial harassment in the workplace illegal?

Yes. Harassment, slurs, and a hostile work environment are considered a form of racial discrimination. Harassment may include racial slurs or offensive or derogatory remarks about an employee’s race or color. Harassment is illegal when it is so severe or frequent that it creates a hostile work environment or results in an adverse employment decision. According to the MHRA, an employer engages in illegal and discriminatory conduct when, because of race or color, the employer:

  • Refuses to hire or to maintain a system of employment which unreasonably excludes a person seeking employment; or
  • Discharges an employee; or
  • Discriminates against a person with respect to hiring, tenure, compensation, terms, upgrading, conditions, facilities or privileges of employment.

What if there are no specific racial comments

Race discrimination is seldom obvious or blatant. For this reason, Minnesota and federal laws also protect against discriminatory treatment motivated by subtle or subconscious biases or stereotyped thinking. Often, attorneys look beyond comments to the totality of circumstances to assess whether race was a factor in the employer’s conduct or employment decision. This may include an employer who offers opportunities or pay raises to all white employees or denies an offer to a qualified candidate after discovering his or her race.

Minnesota further protects employees from race discrimination where an employee is treated unfavorably because he or she is married to or associated with persons of a certain race. Specifically, the MHRA provides that it is illegal to discriminate against persons “associated with a person or group of persons who are . . . of a different race [or] color . . . .”

What if a workplace policy unfairly impacts one race?

Discrimination can also occur where an employer’s workplace policy that is not related to the job has a disparate or negative impact on employees of a certain race. For example, a policy requiring a high school diploma and minimum scores on two separate aptitude tests—while applied to all employees without regard to race—prevented a disproportionate number of Africa-American employees from being hired or advancing in the company. Even though it was not intentional discrimination, the policy was illegal because there was no business necessity for the policy, it was not sufficiently related to the job, and it had a disparate impact based on race. See Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (1971).

Determining whether an employee has been discriminated against because of his or her race or color can sometimes be difficult. A few factors to consider, include, but are not limited to:

  • the presence of race/color based comments (written or oral)
  • how others outside the employee’s race are treated
  • whether there a “pattern or practice” of treating certain races unfavorably
  • the background and history of the employer’s work environment and workforce
  • how employment policies are applied
  • the race of the decision-maker

CONTACT OUR MINNESOTA EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS

The employment attorneys at Wanta Thome PLC have years of experience litigating race discrimination employment lawsuits. If you believe you have been discriminated against or are currently being discriminated against in your workplace, we want to here from you. Contact us for free case evaluation.

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