Discrimination at the Workplace - Research Paper Example

Discrimination at the Work Place 15-Jan Discrimination at the Work Place In the presented scenario, Maria who is of Latino origin claims that she has been unfairly discriminated against since she was not considered for a promotion due to her distinctive Latino accent. Having worked for the company for 10 years, Maria believed she should have been considered for the promotion. She further argues that her supervisor had told her that he feared the companys clients would have trouble in understanding her Latino accent. Maria’s case can be considered as a case of racial discrimination since she was discriminated against on the basis of her ethnicity. Racial discrimination involves the act where a person is treated unfairly because of his or her color, race, accent or national origin (Colella & Dipboye, 2012). Racism could be in two different forms. One of the forms of racism is stereotyping, which involves insults, calling names, commentary on the media and the internet. This could either be done directly or indirectly. In Maria’s case, for example, she was excluded from accessing the promotion indirectly. Racism could also be systematic where the rule, practices and policies of a certain organization prevent a certain group of people from accessing different services or opportunities (Colella & Dipboye, 2012). Maria’s case could be considered as stereotyping since there were no set conditions excluding her from the promotion (Rojot & Wheeler, 1992). Racism could also occur in favor of the dominant ethnic groups in the company. Ethnic discrimination at the work place mainly occurs when a recruitment or promotion decision is being made. This is, however, against the law. According to various federal and state laws, ethnic discrimination is considered as harassment, which is a violation of the law (Colella & Dipboye, 2012). However, in most cases, discrimination at the work place could go undetected unless the concerned individual speaks out. Employers could also be discriminating against certain races and not realizing it. This mostly happens with systematic discrimination whereby, the workplace policies and practices have an effect on certain races (Roscigno, 2007). Decision and policymaking processes should therefore consider the differences among the employees in terms of race, color, sex among other traits. Discrimination at the work place could take different forms. One of these forms is discrimination based on race and ethnicity. Maria’s case is under this form of discrimination. Discrimination based on race or country of origin is prohibited by the law. Other forms of discrimination based on race and ethnicity at the workplace could be in form of the treatment received and the payment rates (Colella & Dipboye, 2012). Discrimination could also be based on sex where members of a certain sex are harassed. One of the most common forms of discrimination based on sex is sexual harassment, which includes unwanted sexual advances and crude remarks (Colella & Dipboye, 2012). It could also be in the form negative treatment towards members of a certain sex. Women have, for example, been denied certain job positions on the basis of their gender. Both men and women have been victims of sex-based discrimination at the work place. Discrimination could also be based on religion where members of certain religions could be treated unfairly. Similar to other forms of discrimination, religious discrimination could either be harassment or negative treatment of members belonging to certain religions (Roscigno, 2007). It is important for every organization to respect the religion of every employee. For instance, Muslims and Jews should be allowed to wear according to their religion. Another common type of discrimination is based on disability. The law prohibits this type of discrimination so long as the individuals are qualified for the job. Discrimination could also be based on age where many companies tend to discriminate against people of a certain age during recruitment and promotions (Colella & Dipboye, 2012). Some companies, for example, prefer to promote the older employees; hence, discriminating against the younger ones. The law protects individuals and employees from illegal workplace discrimination. With this, Maria is allowed to take legal action against the company. It would therefore be advisable for Maria to sue the involved parties, though it is important that she consult with her employer first before proceeding with the legal action (Roscigno, 2007). This may help in solving the matter informally without involving a large number of parties. The consultation would also minimize on the time and costs likely to be involved in taking a legal action against the company. Maria should follow a number of steps before taking legal action. First Maria should get an understanding of what is defined as racial discrimination according to the law. She could obtain this from the human resource authorities. After that, Maria should find out the company policies related to racial discrimination. Maria should then keep a record of the claims of discrimination including all the evidence she has with their date and time. This will help in determining the eligibility of the case, as well as the amount of fines to be charged on the company if found guilty. With all the requirements fulfilled, Maria should gather reliable witnesses and proceed to suing her employer. If the law finds Maria’s case to be that of discrimination, she could be reconsidered for the promotion (Rojot & Wheeler, 1992). This could also have some negative effects on the employer as they may be subjected to a fine. The employer could also be required to pay back Maria for the benefits she would have obtained if granted the position (Rojot & Wheeler, 1992). The employer will also be required to restrain from any discriminatory practices in the future. Additionally, the employer will be demanded to pay back Maria the costs incurred for the legal action including the expert witness fees, court costs, lawyer costs and the attorney’s fees. Maria also has the option of reporting her case of discrimination to human rights societies and agencies who can in turn file the cases on her behalf (Kurtz, 2002). The discrimination against Maria could have some negative effects on her mentally, physically and in her work. This could affect her performance at her work place since she will not be motivated to deliver (Colella & Dipboye, 2012). Similarly, racial discrimination could have various negative effects on the entire company. The company could be faced with the challenge of being able to retain employees, who are likely to lose trust in the management. This is likely to result to high employee turnover, as the employees who may feel that they are being treated unfairly are likely to leave the company upon the first chance they get to seek opportunities elsewhere (Kurtz, 2002). This also results to high costs of having to hire and train new employees. Discrimination could also lead to low morale of the staff since people like Maria feel undervalued and unappreciated when they see the less competent employees being promoted (Colella & Dipboye, 2012). This will, therefore, reduce their productivity and eventually affect the productivity of the entire company. Additionally, it could lead to frequent conflicts between employees, some of whom may feel more important than others, a situation which is likely to reduce collaboration, therefore, leading to lower productivity. As a result, the legal action against the company could incur a lot of financial losses due to the costs involved. Additionally the company could end up recruiting and promoting individuals who are not competent enough eventually leading to lower productivity (Kurtz, 2002). Discrimination at the work place in the society today has major effects on the individuals personally. This mostly occurs when it involves issues related to their job like in Maria’s case where she was denied a promotion as a result of her race and Latino accent. The people discriminated against could be termed not be qualified or as inexperienced for the available position. As a result, the discrimination could have both personal and social negative effects, which are devastating to the person (Colella & Dipboye, 2012). It is, however, possible for the employers to prevent discrimination at the work place by taking some measures. One of the measures that the company could take is to demand that respect and good conduct in the work place be strictly implemented (Rojot & Wheeler, 1992). This could be executed by developing policies that ensure workers respect one another and present themselves with the proper conduct (Colella & Dipboye, 2012).The company could also take measures to ensure that disciplinary action is taken against the individuals found to discriminate against other people at the work place. Additionally, the company could take the measures by addressing the issues faced by the minority groups at the work place who seem to be discriminated against. This could be implemented through developing policies that ensure equal treatment amongst all the workers. If the company takes this action, it ensures a harmonious relationship amongst the workers by improving the work relations between them. It also enhances collaboration between the workers and as a result their productivity will eventually rise (Rojot & Wheeler, 1992). Despite the fact that some workers could feel discriminated against at some point, the issues can be easily resolved in a proper way according to the set policies. In reference to Maria’s case if the company had laid procedures on how to handle such cases of discrimination, the issue would have been solved internally rather than taking legal action which could be a complicated process. If the employer takes these measures, it does not only benefit the individual employees but also the company. For instance the employee working in such an environment feels secure about their job; they will therefore always have the motivation to report to work every day. This as a result improves their productivity and that of the company as well (Rojot & Wheeler, 1992). In reference, to Maria’s cases, if she had been promoted to the position she deserved she would have been satisfied with her job and would be motivated to deliver. Additionally, if Maria files a lawsuit against the company, it would have several negative effects on the company (Kurtz, 2002). For instance, the company would have to spend a lot of money dealing with the issues related to the case. Filing a lawsuit against the company would also ruin the reputation of the company due to the negative public perception (Colella & Dipboye, 2012). This as a result would negatively affect the operations and performance since market size reduces due to the negative public image. In conclusion, it is important for the company management teams to realize that all employees at the organization are equally important as everyone has a role to play in the operations of the company (Roscigno, 2007). They should therefore not discriminate other people based on their race, color, religion or sex. For instance in Maria’s case she could have been more competent and qualified for the position than Alex who got the promotion. So long as an individual meets the qualifications required and is capable of delivering, they should be offered the position without considering their age, religion, race or country of origin (Kurtz, 2002). For the purpose of fighting discrimination at the work place, the legal structures impose heavy penalties on those engaging in discrimination. They also provide an avenue through which the victims can report the cases to authorities. References Colella, A. & Dipboye, L. (2012). Discrimination at Work: The Psychological and Organizational Bases. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Roscigno, J. (2007). The Face of Discrimination: How Race and Gender Impact Work and Home Lives. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Kurtz, S. (2002). Workplace Justice: Organizing Multi-identity Movements. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Rojot, J. & Wheeler, N. (1992). Workplace Justice: Employment Obligations in International Perspective. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. Read More