Three women, two of whom are current employees in Fox News’ payroll department and one of whom is a former employee, filed a lawsuit against a former executive at the Fox, alleging “appalling discrimination” and “years-long relentless racial animus.” The women allege that they were victims of racial harassment during their time with the Fox. These claims come amid other claims of discrimination from current and former department employees that allege widespread racial discrimination, gender-base harassment, and harassment of an employee who suffered from breast cancer. Allegedly, the company failed to take action against the executive in question because she had intimate knowledge of other Fox News indiscretions.
American workers have the right to work without fear of discrimination from their employers and colleagues. Those who experience this type of behavior can file discrimination claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency charged with investigating workplace discrimination claims.
Microaggressions and Harassment as Racial Discrimination
In their lawsuit, the women allege that they were frequently subjected to harassment and microaggressions that created a hostile work environment. Harassment is the singling out of an individual or group via unwanted attention or negative or inappropriate remarks. Microaggressions are small instances that express the aggressor’s bias against the victim.
The women claim that the executive regularly mocked their pronunciation of certain words and referred to their department as the “urban payroll department.” Allegedly, the executive made other racially-charged comments, such as calling her train home “the Bombay express” because of the presence of Indian-Americans on the train. One of the alleged microaggressions one of the women experienced was an incident where she told the executive that she has three children, to which the executive asked if they all have the same father. The women filing the lawsuit believe the executive would not have asked a white mother this question.
How Does Racial Discrimination Impact Workers’ Careers?
Although harassment and microaggressions can seem insignificant, they can have a severe impact on a victim’s career and over the course of time, resulting in financial losses for the victim. Facing harassment in the workplace can cause an individual to suffer from anxiety, which can lead to physical and mental health difficulties. These can cause the employee to stay home from work more frequently, causing them to lose wages and potentially miss advancement opportunities. Discrimination can also hurt a victim’s relationship with their colleagues and their companies, which can impact their ability to network within their fields and advance through their career paths.
Racial discrimination can lead to a victim’s skills being undervalued and prevent them from seeking advancement opportunities. Even individuals who are not direct victims of discrimination in their workplaces can be affected by toxic workplace cultures, sometimes becoming desensitized to the discrimination and in other cases, causing them to be associated with the toxic culture of the company and hurting their opportunities with others in the field.
Montgomery County Employment Lawyers at The Gold Law Firm P.C. Help Discrimination Victims Pursue their Claims
Discrimination in the workplace is never acceptable. If you feel you have been a victim of discrimination because of your race or another characteristic such as your sex, your religion, or your national origin, work with a qualified Montgomery County employment lawyer. Complete our online contact form or call us at 215-569-1999 to schedule your legal consultation with Sidney L. Gold & Associates P.C. Our office is in Philadelphia and we work with clients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
