Workplace Discrimination: Causes, Effects, and Prevention
This paper examines workplace discrimination in the American workplace, defining the concept and distinguishing it from workplace harassment. Drawing on federal legislation including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the ADEA, ADA, and FMLA, the paper outlines the legal protections available to workers. It analyzes the psychological, economic, and social consequences of discrimination on individuals and society, using the Chipotle pregnancy discrimination case as a real-world example. The paper concludes with a set of organizational strategies — including equality policies, training programs, pay audits, and monitoring — that employers can adopt to prevent and address discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
- Introduction to Workplace Discrimination and Harassment: Defines discrimination, harassment, and key protected categories
- The Impact of Discrimination on Individual Workers and Society: Legal, psychological, economic, and social consequences explored
- What Organizations Can Do to Prevent or End Harassment: Six employer strategies to prevent and address discrimination
- References: Cited sources in APA format
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses a concrete, high-profile case (Chipotle pregnancy discrimination) to ground abstract legal concepts in a real-world example, making the argument tangible and persuasive.
- Cites multiple federal statutes by name — Title VII, ADEA, ADA, FMLA — demonstrating engagement with the legal landscape rather than relying on vague claims.
- Moves logically from definition, to consequences, to solutions, giving the paper a clear problem-solution structure that aids reader comprehension.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of authoritative sourcing at each argumentative stage: a peer-reviewed journal article (Okechukwu et al., 2014) establishes definitions, a news source (Bhattarai, 2016) supplies a case example, and a practitioner guide (ACAS, 2005) anchors the prescriptive recommendations. This multi-source layering strengthens credibility across the argument's three phases.
Structure breakdown
The paper comprises three main sections. The introduction defines workplace discrimination and harassment, introduces key protected categories, and presents a case study. The second section surveys the legal, psychological, economic, and social consequences of discrimination. The third section offers six organizational steps — equality policy, action plans, staff training, merit-based process standards, pay audits, and monitoring — drawn from ACAS guidance to help employers prevent harassment.
Introduction to Workplace Discrimination and Harassment
Workplace discrimination leads to a mismatch between qualified workers and their jobs, and it carries significant economic consequences in the American workplace.
Okechukwu, Souza, Davis, and Castro (2014) define workplace discrimination as unfair rules and conditions that impair the ability of group members. It is motivated by the mistreatment of a disadvantaged group by a dominant group and can be based on race. It even occurs among disadvantaged groups themselves — for example, some ethnic groups are favored over immigrant workers. Discrimination also exists with respect to age, gender, and disability. Although Americans have enacted legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act to address societal and historical influences in the workplace, discrimination persists. Workplace discrimination refers to the unequal treatment of employees, whereas workplace harassment involves negative actions directed at a worker based on race, ethnicity, gender, or similar characteristics. Sexual harassment includes sexist behavior, sexual hostility, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion, in which a person's gender or sex is the primary basis for targeting.
According to Bhattarai (2016), discrimination and harassment occur in many workplaces. One such incident took place on August 9, 2016, when Chipotle Mexican Grill was ordered to pay $550,000 to a former employee of its Dupont Circle store for discriminating against and firing a pregnant worker. Doris Garcia Hernandez, 31, who worked at the Chipotle on M Street NW, reported that she was not permitted to drink water or take breaks after becoming pregnant in November 2011. She was later fired for leaving early to attend a doctor's appointment. She received $50,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages.
Harassment is tolerated in some workplaces as a function of workplace culture. Some employees become accustomed to such discrimination, while others never report it out of fear of being isolated from colleagues or losing their employment altogether. Even when employees do report harassment, no remedial action is often taken despite the existence of laws against such conduct. Compounding the problem, some employers prefer workers who do not disclose harassment, since disclosure requires the employer to address the issue directly.
The Impact of Discrimination on Individual Workers and Society
Workplace discrimination is a violation of federal and state laws. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits "discrimination in terms and conditions of employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, and religion." The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits age discrimination against workers over 40, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires "reasonable accommodations" for workers with disabilities. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides that employees must not be discriminated against for personal or medical needs. When these directives are not implemented, discrimination can lead employees to file lawsuits against their employer. Such litigation is costly, and the company may face significant financial losses if the judgment is in the employee's favor (Nayab, 2010).
Nayab (2010) explains that the 21st-century workplace is multicultural. Discrimination not only demoralizes workers but also causes them to align with the victim's group. The formation of cliques rooted in distrust can impede the free flow of communication and undermine teamwork.
Workplace discrimination typically affects the employee's psychological well-being, and victims often experience depression. This can further contribute to domestic violence and other harmful outcomes stemming from a loss of self-esteem. In addition to these effects, the experience of appearing in court carries its own significant psychological burden (Nayab, 2010).
Workplace discrimination is also a major contributor to the nation's unemployment. Companies that refuse to hire people based on certain biases — for example, many companies that refuse to hire women — reduce overall labor market participation. Altogether, workplace discrimination produces negative consequences for organizations, individuals, and society as a whole (Nayab, 2010).
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