Race and Sex Discrimination Generally
The prototypical discrimination claim is for race discrimination or sex discrimination. The first anti-discrimination laws passed in this country were directed at race discrimination, which now includes both employment discrimination and housing discrimination. (This page addresses employment discrimination, but please see Housing Discrimination) for information on that subject. 42 U.S.C. § 1981 which prohibits race discrimination in the making and performance of contracts was passed shortly after the civil war. Because employment is a kind of contract, the employment lawyer uses § 1981 to pursue race discrimination and wrongful termination cases. Title VII was not passed until the early 1960's and was the first federal law to address sex discrimination in the context of employment. Putting aside sexual harassment law which grew out of Title VII, race and sex discrimination claims are handled in a very similar manner using either the direct or indirect method of proof. (See Proving Discrimination on our main Discrimination page.)

In the context of employment discrimination, race and sex discrimination come in many forms including: denial of overtime work, denial of or limited bonuses, wrongful termination (although wrongful termination claims are more typical in race discrimination cases than in sex discrimination cases), poor evaluations, differential discipline, and even outright harassment. The key to any kind of employment discrimination claim is that the reason for the discrimination is that the victim is of a particular race or sex. (A man or a white person can just as easily have a reverse discrimination claim if a woman or an African-American commits the discrimination.)

Tangible Action – Losing Money
The most common myth about employment discrimination is that any case where there is differential treatment is a good one. The problem is that in most cases there must be some tangible job detriment or injury – usually this means that the victim has lost money. Wrongful termination is a good example. Other examples include denial of overtime because one cannot get overtime pay if one does not get the overtime, and denial of bonuses (or limited bonuses.) Differential discipline cases become much harder. The fact that women get more write-ups than men or African-Americans get them for infractions that do not result in write-ups for white people may be discrimination, but it can make for a very difficult case because there are no damages (financial injury.) Where differential discipline cases become tangible is when they result in a suspension (without pay), a wrongful termination, a decreased bonus, or other financial detriment. Sometimes this takes several write-ups or similar disciplinary action. This does not mean that you should not take your case to an employment lawyer early. An employment lawyer may be able to help prevent a suspension or wrongful termination if the client brings it to her fast enough. Remember that an employment lawyer will always seek to negotiate a resolution first if possible.

Wrongful Termination as Employment Discrimination
There are several things that mark a wrongful termination discrimination claim. Usually, there is a change in supervisor. (After all, why would someone hire a minority employee and then fire that same person for being a minority?) Many wrongful termination claims come from long standing employees who had stellar work records for years and suddenly get a very poor evaluation or a series of write-ups obviously intended to cover a wrongful termination in the near future. In these cases, an employee can see a wrongful termination coming and should contact an employment lawyer immediately. Remember, an employment lawyer can often help prevent a wrongful termination.

Retaliation
There is always a concern that the pursuit of an employment discrimination claim will result in retaliation and wrongful termination. But you have rights against retaliation as well. Please see our Retaliation page for more details.

There are many ways to pursue an employment discrimination claim and you should consult an employment lawyer. At Hinton & Associates, P.A, we use all of these laws to assist our clients. Call us for a confidential consultation. No one has to know you spoke to an employment lawyer.

Constitutional Protection Against Racial Discrimination