Disparate treatment occurs when an employer directly discriminates against an employee, and as a result, the employee is either not hired, fired, not promoted, or the employee encounters some other negative consequence. To find evidence of disparate treatment, it is important to record conversations, discuss the situation with your co-workers, and read between the lines to help you determine your employer’s real motive.
Does it seem as though your workplace is homogeneous or that certain groups of similar people receive all of the promotions and pay-raises? Disparate impact discrimination may be occurring at your workplace. Disparate impact discrimination occurs when an employer’s facially neutral policy or practice results in statistical discrimination among different types of employees.
Harassment occurs when an employer’s or a co-worker’s actions cause either physical, mental, or emotional harm to an employee in some way. The most commonly discussed form of harassment is sexual harassment, which can come in the form of either lewd jokes, offensive comments, or sexual assault. Other forms of harassment such as racial harassment are also commonplace and take the form of hazing environments or the use of racial slurs.
