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Target sued for racial discrimination

| Jul 24, 2013 | Workplace Discrimination |

When you get hired to work for a company in New York, you expect that you have been chosen because you are qualified for the job. Once you begin working, you expect that you will be treated fairly and with respect. As we have discussed in past posts, however, not all employers treat their employees well. Unfortunately, employee discrimination is a widespread problem that occurs across the country.

One of the most recent workplace discrimination cases involves one of the largest retailers in the country. According to a lawsuit filed by three former employees who are Hispanic, Target managers used racial slurs toward the employees and used a training document that was insensitive toward Hispanic employees.

The training document that seems to have been used to help managers in a California office interact with Hispanic workers allegedly promoted racial stereotypes by including statements like “not everyone wears a sombrero,” and “not everyone eats tacos and burritos.” Additionally, the document apparently said that Hispanic workers are gnerally less educated than others and often say they understand directions when they really don’t.

Target issued a statement saying that the training document is not official and was only used in one location. While we hope that is true, it does not make the situation acceptable. Employees who were hired based on their skills and knowledge deserve to be treated respectfully. There should be no room for racial discrimination in any workplace in New York or elsewhere. If racial discrmination does occurr, however, this case shows that there are ways to take action against a negligent employer.

Source: myfoxny.com, “Ex-Target workers sue, allege race discrimination,” July 10, 2013