race discrimination

California Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Win Against Airplane Manufacturer, Others Pending

August 24, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

A U.S. District Court in Los Angeles has awarded $350,000 to a plaintiff in a racial discrimination lawsuit, finding an airplane manufacturer fostered a hostile work environment and failed to prevent race-based harassment and further was negligent in its hiring, supervision and retention of employees who committed such acts. Although the company, Boeing, denies the allegations and is weighing its options to appeal the verdict, five similar lawsuits against the company are pending – each alleging racial discrimination.

As detailed by The Press-Telegram, one of the incidents highlighted in the case at trial occurred at a workroom table at a facility in El Segundo, where a white co-worker tied a noose with a strand of rope and then tossed it to the plaintiff seated nearby. Plaintiff, who is black, caught it. He would later say he felt directly threatened, given U.S. history involving the lynching of African Americans. Another time, he said the same co-worker “joked” more than once about plaintiff being at the zoo for a “family reunion.” Once, while working on a top-secret security clearance project building satellites for the U.S. government, he said his colleagues nicknamed him after a pet chimpanzee. He was later humiliated to learn someone had put a piece of tape on his back with the offensive nickname on it – and that he’d walked around with it for hours without anyone telling him.

He and other plaintiffs said they feared (and still do) the possibility of retaliation. Continue Reading ›

Bill Targets Unlawful Wage Disparities in California

April 11, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

Fair pay has been a long and hard fought battle, and it’s not over yet. For instance, the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau reported in 2015, the gender earnings ratio (women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s) for full-time, year-round workers was 79.6 percent (up from 60.2 percent in 1980). White, non-Hispanic women as well as Asian women out-earn Black and Hispanic women.

A bill recently introduced in the California State Senate, if passed, will continue to push even further to equality. SB-1284 was recently introduced by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) with the intent of more closely monitoring pay data at companies with 100 or more employees, and theoretically keeping companies more accountable for disparate wages

The bill would establish an annual check-in in which California incorporated employers that fit the total employee requirements would submit a pay data report to the Department of Industrial Relations. The department operates within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and is designed to “foster, promote, and develop the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment.” The report submission period would happen every September beginning in 2019. Continue Reading ›

Honoring Officers Who Stand Up Against Sexual Harassment and Discrimination

March 7, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

In a climate where claims of sexual harassment are continually coming to the surface and stories of police wrongdoing are constantly in the news, it is refreshing to see people honored who have fought to protect their rights and maintain their values.

The Asbury Park-Neptune Chapter of NAACP in New Jersey recently honored two female members of the local police officers who twice filed lawsuits as a result of sexual harassment and race discrimination they allege was taking place in their police department, according to App. Long before the New York Times‘ Harvey Weinsten expose or the popularity of #MeToo on social media, these two women were standing up when it would have been so much easier to buckle under the pressure.

Their story begins in 2013 when the two reported repeated sexual harassment and discrimination. One of the plaintiffs claim a lewd magnet was stuck to her car and in a separate instance a crass message was place on her car, a vehicle she used to visit the local high school. She also alleges that she was repeatedly not given the resources she needed to properly serve the high school, such as active shooter training and access to a tactical vehicle, both of which were given to a male resource officer for the school. Plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit instances of inappropriate conversations about pornography and personal sex lives, and crude gestures.

Race Discrimination Accusations Hit Connecticut Agency

February 11, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

When employees work in helping professions, they generally expect their supervisors and co-workers to share values of compassion and empathy. Unfortunately, racial discrimination, harassment and bullying can rear their ugly heads nearly anywhere, even among people who do good for a living. These in turn give rise to employment lawsuits.

The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services in Connecticut is currently grappling with a flood of such accusations among its staff. Recently, 40 employees came forward to share their stories during a forum, hosted by members of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. After hearing a myriad of accounts of targeted attacks against staff members, State Sen. Len Suzio (R-Meriden) called for the state to open a formal investigation into reported systemic discrimination practices, according to an article from Record-Journal. Most of the accusations detailed instances of discrimination based on color, race, ancestry and national origin.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 explicitly forbids discrimination of employees based on “race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines one aspect of race discrimination as treating someone unfavorably because he/she is of a certain race or because of personal characteristics associated with that race. This applies to all steps in the employment cycle, including the hiring process, training, promotions, and dismissals. Continue Reading ›

Employment Discrimination Increases for LGBTQ People of Color

January 3, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

For many California residents, employment discrimination is an all too common part of life, with experiences ranging from subtle biases to outright threats, violence or loss of opportunities to advance.

Certain groups receive the brunt of this treatment more than others: Women, the elderly, people of color, LGBTQ community members, those from certain foreign nations or followers of some religions. But the discrimination compounds for people who fit more than one of these categories. This inter-sectional discrimination can be seen in particular among people in a racial minority group as well as the LGBTQ community.

According to a recent poll by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, NPR, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, people of color said they had been discriminated against at twice the rate as white respondents for being LGBTQ when applying for jobs, as well as in police interactions. Continue Reading ›

Federal Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Settled for $3.2 Million

August 22, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

A photo and electronics distributor headquartered in New York has agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle a federal employment discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Labor Department, alleging discrimination against warehouse staffers.

Through the settlement, some 1,300 workers – current, former and would-be – will be entitled to collect back wages and other benefits. The settlement comes after four years in court, after regulators began investigating numerous claims of employee discrimination on the basis of race and gender.

Specifically, as NBC-4 New York reports, the company was accused of discriminating against certain workers during hiring and promotions. Certain workers were also required to use segregated restrooms and were subject to harassment and racially offensive comments, which management reportedly ignored. Continue Reading ›

Racial Discrimination Alleged by Top Banking Executive

August 18, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

A top-level banking executive for Goldman Sachs is suing the company, as well as one of its managing directors, for what she says was racial discrimination and religious discrimination to prevent her from landing a major client.

The lawsuit, filed by the company’s vice president, who is both black and Jewish, alleges the managing director’s prejudices against her specifically blocked this deal, but that she also faced a myriad of discriminatory comments focused on her her skin color and her religion. Specifically, she says comments were made questioning “how Jewish” she is, given the fact that she is African American.

CNBC reports the company has denied the allegations, underscored its commitment to diversity and intends to vigorously fight the claim. Continue Reading ›

Equal Treatment Protects Employer in Racial Discrimination Case

August 8, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

Even allegations of racial discrimination can seriously harm a business. Aside from civil liability, criminal liability, fines, and regulatory sanctions, the mere implication of racial discrimination can cause irreparable damage to a company’s reputation and goodwill in the community. Recently, a Rancho Cordova business was able to protect itself from claims of racial discrimination, simply by presenting evidence that it treated all employees equally.

Plaintiff was employed by SGS Testcom from 2005 until 2014, when he was terminated from his position as a database administrator. According to court records, SGS claims that the plaintiff engaged in a “series of actions warranting termination” between May and August of 2014. These included failure to correct an IT database issue during a weekend when he was on call, and two separate occasions of attempting to correct the same database problem during peak user loads, which resulted in system outages and hurt SGS’s reputation with its client. Continue Reading ›

How Airbnb Host Violations Affect Employers Through the Department of Fair Employment and Housing

July 21, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

Employers might be surprised to learn that the actions of an Airbnb host can affect policy and obligations created by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Nonetheless, that is the outcome of a particularly heated racial case arising out of Big Bear.

The Star reports that, in February 2017, Asian UCLA law student Dyne Suh had rented a cabin in Big Bear. The cabin had been rented from Tami Barker through Airbnb. After driving for hours through rain and snow, Suh received a text message canceling the reservation when she was only minutes away from the cabin. Barker wrote:

“I wouldn’t rent to u if u were the last person on earth”
“One word says it all. Asian.”
“This is why we have Trump”
“I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.”

Suh, an American citizen and law clerk at the Riverdale County Public Defender’s Office, reported the case to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The Department ordered Barker to pay a $5000 fine, issue a personal apology to Suh, take a college level course on Asian American studies, complete community service at a civil rights organization, and report rental data to the Agency for the next four years. Airbnb also permanently banned Barker from their site. Continue Reading ›

Tesla Accused of Racial Discrimination

May 21, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

A lawsuit has been filed against Tesla by an African-American who spent two years working on the assembly line. The worker claims in the lawsuit he experienced harassment on an ongoing basis for months on the basis of his race. Orange County anti-discrimination lawyers regularly represent clients making claims of racial discrimination, which is prohibited under state and federal law.

Unlawful racial discrimination not only includes a company’s refusal to hire, fire or promote a person based on race but it also includes the creation of a hostile work environment. A hostile work environment is created if an employee who s a member of a protected class is made to feel uncomfortable on the basis of his protected status. If an African-American is treated poorly by coworkers due to his race, this would be an example of illegal discriminatory behavior a company could be held accountable for. Continue Reading ›