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National Origin vs. Citizenship in Employment Law

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Abstract

This paper examines the legal distinction between national origin and citizenship in the context of U.S. employment law. It explains why employers may lawfully require citizenship or legal work status but cannot make employment decisions based on an employee's national origin, ethnicity, accent, or ancestry. The paper outlines the forms national origin discrimination can take — including harassment and biased hiring, firing, and promotion decisions — and discusses how employers can protect themselves through consistent treatment of all employees and documented diversity training. Real-world examples, including post-9/11 discrimination against Muslim employees, illustrate the ongoing relevance of these protections.

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What makes this paper effective

The paper opens by immediately drawing a clear conceptual distinction between citizenship and national origin — a nuanced legal difference that many readers may not appreciate — grounding the argument from the outset.
It consistently connects abstract legal principles to concrete workplace scenarios (hiring, firing, harassment, promotions), making the content accessible and practically relevant.
The paper builds logically from defining the problem, to illustrating violations, to recommending preventive measures — a clear problem-solution structure.

Key academic technique demonstrated

The paper demonstrates effective use of a single authoritative source (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman) combined with a primary regulatory source (EEOC) to support every major claim. This dual-sourcing strategy — pairing a textbook framework with a government authority — is a reliable undergraduate technique for grounding legal analysis in both scholarly and official contexts.

Structure breakdown

The paper is organized into four logical sections: (1) defining and distinguishing citizenship from national origin; (2) explaining what constitutes illegal national origin discrimination; (3) outlining practical steps employers can take to avoid liability; and (4) addressing employer responsibility, diversity training, and the broader social context, including post-9/11 workplace discrimination. Each paragraph advances the argument incrementally without repetition.

Introduction: Citizenship vs. National Origin

National origin and citizenship are not the same thing, and for the purposes of discrimination law they must be carefully and clearly distinguished from one another. When a business or organization does not understand the differences between citizenship and national origin, it can find itself in legal trouble. In short, a business may require an employee to be a citizen or to hold another legal work status, but cannot require that employee to be of a particular national origin (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2009).

Citizenship is related to what country a person calls home. If a person was born in the United States to American parents, he or she is a U.S. citizen. Someone born in France to American parents would also be a U.S. citizen but might hold dual citizenship because of the country of birth. Generally, citizenship can be a lawful employment requirement because it relates to legal work status in a particular country (National, 2014). As long as the citizenship requirement is tied to the ability to legally work in that country, no discrimination is taking place.

What Constitutes National Origin Discrimination

The problem arises when national origin enters the picture. A person can be a citizen of any country without being "from" there in an ancestral sense (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2009). Companies that discriminate based on national origin are breaking the law (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2009). They typically base their hiring, firing, and promotion decisions on ethnicity, accent, or a person's region of origin, as well as on culture and customs (National, 2014). This can happen to people of any ethnic background and can also affect people who merely appear to be of a particular background but actually are not (National, 2014).

This type of discrimination is very serious and is considered just as damaging as discriminating against someone based on age, sexual orientation, gender, or other protected factors. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), national origin discrimination remains one of the more commonly reported categories of workplace bias. Unfortunately, it continues to occur.

2 Locked Sections · 310 words remaining

How Employers Can Avoid Legal Liability · 150 words

"Practical steps to prevent discrimination and lawsuits"

Employer Responsibility and Diversity Training · 160 words

"Employer liability, diversity training, and social context"

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Key Concepts in This Paper

National Origin Citizenship Employment Discrimination EEOC Employer Liability Workplace Harassment Diversity Training Protected Class Title VII Legal Work Status