Race Discrimination

Skilled Employment Lawyers Representing Residents of Miami

About a quarter of the population of Miami is non-white. Sometimes people assume that workplace race discrimination is a thing of the past. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily true. Workers are often denied jobs, promotions, and favorable terms and conditions of employment based on their race. Federal, state, and local laws prohibit employment discrimination based on an employee’s race. If you were subjected to race discrimination at your workplace, you should discuss the circumstances with the Miami race discrimination lawyers at Phillips & Associates.

Race Discrimination

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, §1981, and the Florida Civil Rights Act prohibit race discrimination in the workplace. It is illegal for you to be subjected to discrimination regarding hiring, compensation, terms and conditions of employment, benefits, promotions, leave, discipline, termination, or any privilege of employment because of your race. In fact, it is illegal for discrimination to occur on the basis of your actual or perceived race. For example, if you are not hired because a prospective employer thinks that you are African-American, even though you are not, you may have a claim of race discrimination.

It is also illegal for your employer to discriminate against you because of your marriage to, or association with, someone in a specific racial group. For example, you may have a claim of race discrimination if your employer does not promote you because you are married to an Asian-American.

In most cases, a lawsuit involves allegations of disparate treatment. When race discrimination involves disparate treatment, a race discrimination attorney in Miami will argue that a job applicant or employee was treated differently due to their race. However, there are also situations in which an employment practice or policy has a disparate impact on workers of a certain race. We can help employees bring disparate impact claims as well.

Racial Harassment in the Workplace

Racial harassment is a form of race discrimination. Racial harassment may consist of unwelcome memes, slurs, jokes, remarks, verbal abuse, artifacts (a noose or swastika), or physical misconduct. When harassment creates a hostile work environment due to being pervasive or severe, you may be able to recover damages in a racial harassment lawsuit.

Title VII, §1981, and the Florida Civil Rights Act also prohibit employers from segregating employees into specific jobs based on race, as well as from assigning job duties to employees because by race. For example, your employer cannot refuse to promote you into a managerial role because you are Hispanic. Similarly, your employer cannot assign you to customers or clients in specific neighborhoods that have a large population of a certain race because you are of the same race. A Miami race discrimination attorney can help an employee hold an employer accountable for any of these actions.

Proving a Race Discrimination Case

Most employers are aware that it is illegal to make employment decisions based on race, and therefore they may not admit that race was the reason for an employment decision. Often, it is necessary to rely on circumstantial evidence to establish a race discrimination case. For example, if an employer segregates job assignments by race, assigning less desirable work to African-Americans or the employer does not promote a qualified African-American to a management position in the same proportion as Caucasian or Hispanic employees, this may be circumstantial and statistical evidence of race discrimination. If a supervisor makes comments involving racial stereotyping, these may also be used as evidence of race discrimination.

Contact a Race Discrimination Attorney

Race discrimination can take a wide range of forms. An employer may deny that race was a factor in a decision, but there may be ways to establish race discrimination based on circumstantial evidence. You should talk to an attorney about your specific circumstances. Call Phillips & Associates at (866) 229-9441 or complete our online form to schedule a free consultation with a race discrimination lawyer in Miami. Our firm represents clients on a contingency fee basis. This means that we will not receive attorneys’ fees unless we successfully secure a settlement or verdict for you.