I was recently asked if discrimination still happens in the workplace in this country. That question reminded me of some data from the National Committee on Pay Equity I used in a presentation I gave last year on “compound” discrimination. The data illustrate how imbedded in our culture discrimination truly is.
As most people know, discrimination is unlawful in employment when it is based on an employee’s “protected class” status. Perhaps the most well-known of these protected classes are race, gender, national origin, religious affiliation, age and disability. Compound discrimination occurs when an employee is treated adversely because of his or her membership in more than one protected class. Some members of these “sub-classes” are notably more disadvantaged as compared to employees who are members of only one protected class. For instance, the data show that, in 2006, black men made 72.1% of the median annual earnings of white men; however, black women earned only 63.6% as much as white men. Hispanic women made 51.7% as much as white men. These data tend to show that employees in this country have less earning power if they are members of more than one traditionally protected class, i.e., that the discrimination against them is compounded.
Typically, the real work of an attorney who represents employees in discrimination cases is to show that the prejudices which manifest in these types of pay disparity are responsible for the kinds of adverse decisions that can happen in the workplace, such as demotion or termination. However, the pay disparity statistics show in hard numbers how minorities and women can be disadvantaged at work. Of course, as to pay, differences may be partially due to society-wide prejudices, not just those found in the workplace, because prejudice has been shown to adversely affect protected class groups in their educational opportunities before they even enter into the job pool, and maybe even more significantly, when they start applying for jobs. However, the fact is, job discrimination is proved in courts all over this country every day. The only reason a person might ask – “does it still happen today?” – is that since federal law began addressing the issue on a large scale, through the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (effective July 2, 1965), it has been driven underground to a large extent. That is, it is hardly ever as blatant and overt as it once was; it may be harder to “see,” but it is still there just the same.
