The report for fiscal year 2017 published by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shows the extent of discrimination throughout American workplaces. People who feel they have been mistreated on the job in New York due to their race may be interested to know that 33.9 percent of the complaints sent to the commission regarded race discrimination.
According to the report, the agency’s toll-free number received over 540,000 calls from concerned employees in one year. Field offices processed approximately 155,000 requests for help during the same period. The EEOC interpreted these figures as evidence of broad public need for information about workplace discrimination.
In addition to achieving voluntary resolutions for many cases, the organization filed 184 lawsuits to defend employees from violations of the Civil Rights Act. Most of the litigation, 124 lawsuits, represented individuals. The agency also managed 30 lawsuits on behalf of multiple discrimination victims. The remaining 30 cases arose from allegations of systemic abuses. Overall, the efforts of the commission recovered $398 million in damages for victims.
When a person encounters race discrimination at work, the financial consequences could include lack of promotion opportunities, lower pay or reduced work hours. Retaliation for complaints about mistreatment might even cost someone a job. An attorney may advise a person grappling with workplace discrimination. After considering the evidence, an attorney may inform the person about which laws appear to have been violated. Guidance from an attorney might help a person collect additional evidence before confronting the employer with a legal complaint. If an attorney is not able to negotiate a reasonable resolution to the problem, then a lawsuit might present a viable option. An attorney may complete the court filings and communicate the person’s grievances to a jury. If successful, a settlement may be able to compensate someone for lost pay and damage to career.
