Racial and Sexual Discrimination

Racial Discrimination

Maryland Race Discrimination Law. What is Race Discrimination in the Workplace?

Race discrimination is one of the vilest forms of workplace discrimination. Thankfully, Maryland and federal law prohibit race discrimination, of any kind, by Maryland employers. Additionally, Montgomery County, Baltimore County and other Maryland counties have local ordinances that prohibit employment discrimination based on race. Although Maryland law and federal law protect employees from race discrimination, it can be difficult for an employee to navigate the legal framework of race discrimination laws.

I am Experiencing Race Discrimination. What are Unlawful Racially Discriminatory Employment Practices in Maryland?

Race discrimination comes in many forms. Not all race discrimination will be overt or “comment based” discrimination. In today’s workplace, race discrimination may be more subtle or the product of racially discriminatory institutional structures. The first step in any race discrimination case is to properly identify the racially discriminatory behavior.

I Didn't Get the Job. What are Racially Discriminatory Hiring Practices in Maryland?

We’ve all applied to jobs before. You submit your resume, someone looks it over and you may or may not get a call to show up for an interview. However, as a job applicant, do we really know what assumptions or predeterminations are being made about us based on: our resume, our name, our socioeconomic background, our social media presence or our race?

It is well established that many Maryland companies perform background research on employment candidates prior to making hiring decisions. This process creates ample opportunities for racially discriminatory hiring practices.

If you are a Maryland employee and you feel you have been denied a position based on your race, it is important to identify the person who was responsible for making the hiring decision and identify the candidate who was ultimately selected. These two pieces of information are critical to proving a race discrimination case.

Second, the candidate should be able to show how he or she was more qualified for the position than the person who was selected. It’s also important to prove that the person making the hiring decision was aware of your race - or made an assumption about your race - based on your resume, social media profile or other information sources.

I Didn't Get the Promotion. What are Racially Discriminatory Promotional Practices in Maryland?

You’ve been working at the same Maryland Company for years. You’ve been successful, hardworking and loyal. However, other employees are promoted faster and higher than you are. You also notice that the leadership of the company is predominantly one race.

These may be the signs of a racially discriminatory refusal to promote. Many employees are held back in their jobs because they don’t fit the right “image” or not a good fit for the “culture” of corporate leadership. These types of statements are indicative of racially discriminatory promotion practices.

A good place to start if you feel that you have been subject to racially discriminatory promotion denials is to look at the corporate leadership structure. Is everyone at the top of the company White? Is everyone at the top of the Company a male? Is everyone in leadership positions in your department or division of the same race? Are there any racial minorities that are conspicuously absent from management positions?

Once you’ve established a racial disparity, you can then dig deeper into the inner workings of the hiring decisions to determine if evidence of racially discriminatory hiring practices exists.

I recommend contacting a Maryland employment attorney to help navigate this process and to coordinate with the Maryland Office of Human Rights and the EEOC to investigate the Maryland Company’s hiring practices.

What are Examples of Other Racially Discriminatory Employment Practices in Maryland?

Maryland and federal anti-discrimination laws require “equal treatment” at the workplace. This means, that a Maryland employer must treat a White employee the same that it would an African American, Asian or Hispanic employee. For example, if the employer would not terminate a White employee for a workplace mistake, then the employer may not terminate an African American employee for the same mistake under the same conditions.

Proving racially discriminatory employment actions may be difficult. In years past, the easiest way to prove discrimination was to identify prior racially discriminatory statements by the employer. However, in recent years, employers have become more careful about not creating a record of racially discriminatory comments or distributing racially discriminatory emails, texts etc.

Types of non-direct evidence of discriminatory motivated actions may include: 1) different treatment between members of different races 2) coded language about socioeconomic background, politics, culture, etc. 3) differences in the benefits of the position 4) other instances of racial discrimination.

Racial discrimination cases in Maryland require an adept eye to identify the evidentiary basis and navigate the legal process once the discrimination has been identified.

DK Associates, LLC has represented hundreds of clients in race discrimination cases and can help you in pursuing justice against a racially discriminatory employer.

Sexual Discrimination

Maryland Sex Discrimination. What is Sex Discrimination?

Maryland workplace sex discrimination is unlawful and is prohibited by state and federal law. Sex discrimination, like other types of discrimination, can be either obvious or subtle and come in different forms, e.g.,

Discriminatory failure to promote;
Discriminatory pay (based on gender);
Unfair assignment of work duties (based on gender);
Unequal treatment based on company disciplinary practices;
Gender based bonus or incentive discrimination;
Gender specific stereotyping;
Sex discrimination related to workplace social activities;
Sex discrimination regarding leave and time and attendance polices;
Sex based discrimination regarding pregnancy and female specific issues.

The above examples are just some ways in which Maryland companies or business across the United States may engage in forms of workplace sex discrimination.

Evidence of sex discrimination can come in the form of: evidence of disparate treatment between male and female employees, sexually specific comments regarding work place decision-making and/or sexually discriminatory “culture” by a company dominated by either men or women.

In Maryland it is important to identify the acts constituting sex discrimination early, as there are specific time limitations that apply to Maryland sex discrimination laws and lawsuits as well as federal law and federal sex discrimination lawsuits.

For example, in Maryland, an employee must administratively exhaust his or her sex discrimination claims within 180 days of the occurrence, or within 300 days of the occurrence to exhaust Title VII sex discrimination claims. Further, a Maryland employee seeking to file a lawsuit based on sex discrimination must file a lawsuit in state or federal court within two years of the discriminatory acts, e.g., two years of: denial of a promotion, discriminatory hostile work environment, demotion or termination, among others.

Even if a Maryland employee has filed a claim with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, this filing does not toll a Maryland plaintiff’s state law discrimination claims and it is important to promptly pursue your rights.

Damages for sex discrimination claims may include, but are not limited to: compensatory damages, punitive damages, lost wages, lost profits, lost bonuses, backwages, frontwages and equitable relief.

Maryland Hostile Work Environment Law. What is a Hostile Work Environment?

"In order to make out a hostile work environment claim based on sex, `a plaintiff must show that the offending conduct (1) was unwelcome, (2) was because of her sex, (3) was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of her employment and create an abusive working environment, and (4) was imputable to her employer.'" Hoyle v. Freightliner, LLC, 650 F.3d 321, 331 (4th Cir.2011).

A hostilework environment may include: unwanted touching, continuous unwanted propositions for sex or romantic relations, continuous name calling, lewd or lascivious comments or behavior, discriminatory male dominated culture, continuous refusal to provide the same privileges of employment to female employees as male employees and other sex based workplace inappropriate behavior.

It is important to identify and accurately describe a claim of "hostile work environment " based on sex. As such, an employee that believes he or she is being subject to a hostile work environment based on sex is encourage to immediately contact experienced employment counsel to review that employees' options. If you believe you are being subject to a hostile work environment in Maryland or elsewhere, please feel free to contact our firm today to set up a free consultation. Info@dkemployment.com.

Maryland Discriminatory Promotions. What is a "Failure to Promote" claim?

Generally, to make out a sex discrimination claim in Maryland based on discriminatory failure to promote, an employee must show that:

"(1) [s]he is a member of a protected group; (2)[s]he applied for the position in question; (3)[s]he was qualified for the position; and (4)[s]he was rejected for the position under circumstances giving rise to an inference of unlawful discrimination." Alvarado v. Bd. of Trs. of Mont. Cmty. College, 928 F.2d 118, 121 (4th Cir.1991)

A person is a "member of a protected group" for purposes of Maryland discriminatory failure to promote cases (based on sex) by virtue of that person's sexual identification, i.e., female, male or transgender.

In Maryland and federal discrminatory failure to promote (based on sex) cases it is important to demonstrate that an employee or applicant is "qualified for the position." This can be shown either through evidence of a person's work experience, past employment history and/or skills and abilities. Further, the employee may show that he or she had previously performed the duties of the position or was substantially more qualified than the candidate that was selected for the position.

Finally, the applicant for the promotion must show that he or she was denied the promotion "under circumstances" giving rise to an inference of unlawful sex discrimination. An employee can make out this last element of a discriminatory non-promotion case by bringing forth evidence of: discriminatory (sexist/sexual) statements by the selecting employee, statistical evidence of sexual discrimination in hiring decisions and/or direct evidence of sex discrimination.

Maryland discriminatory non-promotion cases are subject to specific administrative exhaustion and statutory limitations requirements.

Experienced employment counsel can assist employees in remedying past discriminatory non-promotions or assisting with preparation of future promotion applications. Please feel free to contact DK Associates, LLC if you believe you have been discriminatorily denied a promotion based on sex. Info@dkemployment.com.

What is a Sexual Discriminatory Workplace Culture?

Not all Maryland sex discrimination cases are based on failure to promote. There are other opportunities in the workplace that are denied to male, female or transgender employees based on that employee's sex.

For example, a company may not discriminatorily deny an employee an equal bonus opportunity, new client or business development opportunities, the opportunity to attend work functions, an equal opportunity to attend work social functions such as parties, lunches, dinners and off-site business meetings based on sex.

Sexual discrimination "lost opportunity" cases are significant because these business opportunities often affect career growth, professional development and financial compensation. Maryland employees and employees across the country have the right to work free from sexual discrimination.

If you feel that you have been discriminatorily denied workplace opportunities based on sex, please feel free to contact DK Associates, LLC at: info@dkemployment.com.

Workplace cultures that are permeated with discriminatory comments, sexually suggestive behavior, sex for promotion activities and other sexually discriminatory behavior cause significant professional and emotional harm to employees that do not align with that culture or speak out against discriminatory activity.

If you are a Maryland area employee and believe that you work in or have worked in a discrimiantory workplace please feel free to contact DK Associates, LLC to schedule a consultation.

Discriminatory Lost Opportunity. What is Maryland Law on Lost Opportunity?

If you feel that you have been discriminatorily denied workplace opportunities based on sex, please feel free to contact DK Associates, LLC at: info@dkemployment.com.