Employment Law Tip: 10 Ways to Avoid Race Bias and Harassment Claims

As mentioned eralier, race discrimination charges continue to dominate the employment discrimination charges received yearly by the EEOC. And headlines frequently announce new race bias lawsuits, big verdicts, and settlements. Here are 10 tips you can use to avoid race bias problems in your workplace and stay out of court:

1. Have thorough antiharassment and antidiscrimination policies in your employee handbook. Periodically remind workers about your policies.
2. Notify employees that they won’t be retaliated against for complaints of discrimination.
3. If problems or complaints arise, investigate promptly and thoroughly.
4. Take appropriate disciplinary measures against any employee who violates your antiharassment or EEO policies.
5. When you make selection decisions, whether for hire, promotion, etc., be sure to scrupulously document the legitimate, objective reasons for selecting a candidate, and make sure your decisions are supported by the job requirements (such as job descriptions).
6. Provide training for managers on the need to use objective standards in decision making.
7. Train managers on how to identify and respond effectively to harassment.
8. Prohibit racial jokes, slurs, epithets, name-calling, insults or put-downs, teasing, etc.
9. Avoid hiring practices that could screen out certain racial or ethnic groups. For example, if your workforce is predominantly white, relying mostly on word-of-mouth referrals could create a barrier for employment of African-Americans, Asians, Latinos, or other groups.
10. Pay attention to whether your appearance and grooming standards may implicate race discrimination. For example, while you can require that hair be neat, clean, and well-groomed, your rules must respect racial differences in hair textures and styles.

Join us this fall in San Francisco for the California Employment Law Update conference, a 3-day event that will teach you everything you need to know about new laws and regulations, and your compliance obligations, for the year ahead—it’s one-stop shopping at its best.