Racial discrimination is a pervasive problem in the United States. It is an issue that arises in many different contexts beyond the employment realm. It can impact where individuals are permitted to live, the types of loans that they are able to secure, and even the service they may receive from their local cities and governments.
There are a number of different ways that an Illinois resident may be made the victim of employment-based racial discrimination, however. If an employer chooses not to hire them based on their racial or ethnic background, then they may have suffered a race-based form of employment discrimination.
If they are punished more severely than their peers for certain employment conduct, those sanctions may be a form of racial discrimination.
Race may not be used as the basis for denying someone a promotion, paying them less, or giving them different benefits from their co-workers. Racial discrimination in the workplace is a complicated issue because in many cases, individuals may not know that race was a factor that played into the adverse employment action at the time they suffered it. Many employers use alternate explanations for why they hired, fired, promoted or demoted individuals to avoid admitting that the real reason was race.
Workers in Illinois are protected from racial discrimination in employment through state and federal laws. Victims of this prohibited form of discrimination may have rights for protecting their livelihoods when racial discrimination is discovered in their workplaces. With the assistance and guidance of employment law attorneys, victims of racial discrimination may be able to protect their finances, advance in their careers, and provide for themselves and their families through their hard work.