Workplace discrimination comes in many forms, ranging from physical or verbal harassment to unequal pay or unfair termination of an employee who is part of a protected class. Disparate discrimination treatment is an example of discrimination in the workplace that occurs when an employee or potential employee is treated differently based on their race, religion, national origin, gender, or other protected characteristic.
While Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from treating employees who belong to a protected class unfairly, this type of illegal discrimination continues to occur in Philadelphia and across the country. If you have experienced disparate discrimination treatment from your employer, contact an experienced employment discrimination lawyer at your earliest convenience.
What Are Some Examples of Disparate Treatment in the Workplace?
Disparate discrimination treatment is a form of unequal treatment based on an employer’s prejudiced beliefs about people who belong to a protected class. It can range from subtle to severe and can occur in any type of work environment. The following are examples of disparate discriminatory treatment in the workplace:
- Discriminatory Hiring Practices: If an employer has a history of hiring male employees or female employees because the employer does not want to provide accommodations for pregnancy, maternity leave, or other family-related time off, this is considered disparate discrimination.
- Unfair Job Promotions: If a manager promotes younger employees over older employees, despite the fact that they are equally qualified and the older employee has years of experience and stellar performance records to the table, this is disparate treatment.
- Unfair Salary Negotiations: If two equally qualified employees are negotiating a salary increase, but a Latino employee is given a much smaller raise due to his ethnicity, this is disparate discrimination.
- Running Criminal Background Checks: If an employer has a habit of only running criminal background checks on employees based on their ethnicity, national origin, or socioeconomic background, this is disparate discrimination treatment.
What Is the Difference Between Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact?
Disparate treatment and disparate impact both refer to discriminatory employment practices. However, disparate treatment is intentional discrimination, whereas disparate impact is unintentional.
For example, if an organization’s policies or procedures are unbiased but have a disproportionate impact on certain protected groups, including race, gender, religion, or national origin, this would be considered a disparate impact. The protected class of employees experiences adverse effects of discrimination, even if it is unintentional. However, when an organization’s policies or procedures are set up to intentionally discriminate against employees who are part of a protected class, this would be considered disparate treatment. This is the most common form of discrimination in the workplace.
How Do I Prove Disparate Discrimination Treatment?
In order to prove disparate discrimination treatment, you must present evidence that discrimination has occurred. This is known as a “prima facie” case, which means that, based on first impression, there is evidence of discrimination. If you are able to present a prima facie case, your employer must provide a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for their decision or action. You must then prove that your employer’s stated reason is false and that the actual motive for their actions is discrimination. Depending on the circumstances and the presence of direct evidence, you may need to make a prima facie case through circumstantial evidence.
The Supreme Court established a four-part test for an employee’s prima facie case of disparate discrimination treatment, which includes the following:
- The employee is a member of a protected class. This could include an employee who is African American, Muslim, transgender, female, or over the age of 40.
- The employee was qualified for a promotion, raise, or other job benefits.
- The employee was terminated, not hired, passed over for a promotion, or otherwise denied the job benefit.
- The benefit remains available or was given to someone who is not included in the employee’s protected class.
If you are able to prove a prima facie case, your employer must produce a legitimate reason for their decision. According to the Supreme Court, you have the burden of proving disparate discrimination treatment. Your employer does not have to prove that they did not discriminate, but they do need to provide evidence to support their stated reason. Oftentimes, they will claim that the employee was not qualified or there were performance issues that justified the action taken. They may also claim that the employee was laid off due to fluctuations in the economy. Whatever the reason provided, you must prove that it is a pretext for discrimination, which means you will need to provide evidence that questions your employer’s stated reasons and allows the jury to determine whether your employer was motivated by discrimination.
The following are examples of how pretext can be proven:
- If your employer cited one reason for its decision and provided a different reason at a different time, this may be enough to prove the pretext. For example, if you were told that you were losing your job because of company-wide restructuring but at a later date stated that you were terminated for poor performance, this may establish a pretext.
- If your employer applies the rules differently when making job decisions, this may demonstrate pretext. For example, if you were told that you did not get a promotion because you did not have an advanced degree, but the person who was hired also did not have an advanced degree, the employer’s decision may come into question.
- If your employer regularly made sexist and offensive jokes and presided over a company-wide layoff where a significant percentage of women, African Americans, and Latinos lost their jobs, this could undermine your employer’s stated reason for the action.
Philadelphia Employment Discrimination Lawyers at The Gold Law Firm P.C. Advocate for Victims of Discrimination in the Workplace
If you have been discriminated against in the workplace and you wish to make a claim of disparate discrimination treatment, contact the Philadelphia employment discrimination lawyers at The Gold Law Firm P.C. To schedule a free consultation, call 215-569-1999 or contact us online. Our offices are located in Philadelphia and Pennsauken, New Jersey, where we serve clients in Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey, including Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Northeast Philadelphia, Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, Lehigh County, Montgomery County, and Cherry Hill.
