Which of these three hypothetical situations involve employment discrimination?
- A company eliminates medical coverage for sickle cell anemia from its benefits package in order to save money on health care costs.
2. A manager chooses to promote one female Hispanic employee over another female Hispanic employee, because the first has lighter skin. u
3. A human resources manager dismisses a potential employee’s application because the applicant’s name appears to be of Middle Eastern origin.
Each situation raises possible issues of discrimination. Discrimination affects individuals of all races, colors and ancestry, and it takes many forms. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an employer cannot single out or illegally discriminate against an employee or job candidate on the basis of race, color or national origin in any aspect of employment, including, but not limited to: hiring and firing; compensation, assignment or employee classification; transfers, promotions, layoffs or recalls; recruitment and job advertisements; retirement plans; and disability leave.
In the legislative branch, such discrimination violates the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA), which is administered by the Office of Compliance (OOC). Legislative branch employees may contact the OOC if they feel they have been discriminated against, and may take action through the OOC’s dispute resolution process.
Discrimination on the Basis of Race
Discrimination on the basis of an unalterable characteristic associated with race—such as hair texture or certain facial features—violates the CAA, even if all members of the race may not share the same characteristics.
Racial discrimination may also occur when a decision or policy negatively impacts one race, regardless of whether the decision or policy was intended to do so.
Discrimination on the Basis of Color
Color discrimination occurs when individuals are treated differently than others of the same or similar race because of the color of their skin. While this is a separately identifiable type of discrimination, it can also occur in conjunction with race discrimination.
