I live in New York and work in the transportation field. The department I'm in is 95% white christian males. There are no females. I have had issues before about my ethnic background in which I was harassed and nearly fired. I went through my supervisors and the offenders got a mere slap on the wrist. Those involved continue to speak ill of me to this day. I don't look chinese but I am half chinese and proud of it. When I'm somewhere with a work gang and an asian person passes, ie flushing coworkers always so something insulting. Now I work in an outlying work gang and luckily do not have to deal with most of the work force. But it has come to my attention that the work force is now aware of my sexual orientation and things are being said. I have lost faith in using the proper channels to try and quell the situation that I know will unfold. Does anyone have any advice or know any contacts that could be helpful?
My mom worked as a computer technician in a school division in rural Alberta. She was the only female and it happened that a few of her tech department co-workers as well as her boss were extremely sexist. She was able to file a human rights law suit and win rather easily. Of course, I'm not sure how well you would do with that in the US, but it's an option.
Yeah I've been poking around the various nys employement law websites and the eeoc website. My hands are sort of tied.....nothing has been directly said to me but people who accept me have been informing me. This is not something new to me, just the first time for my orientation. Where I work is well....special.....it's pretty much high school. While the job policy finds such actions unacceptable the disciplinary actions actually taken are laughable at best.
I'm wondering what you mean by transportation field. If you're working for a company that accepts any federal or state funding, or if you're working in the public sector, this sort of thing is illegal. If it's really blatant then I think you should get a lawyer right away. There isn't much anyone can do if it's a private company though, but if it's a larger one then they probably have a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation and you should try to get something done through the company's channels and stuff. If you are going to get a lawyer though, you should look at Lambda Legal, or the ACLU, sometimes they'll take discrimination cases on at no charge to you. Maybe you could look at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison too. I know they encourage their attorneys to take on discrimination cases and stuff like the ACLU does, and I'm pretty sure their HQ is in NYC somewhere.
have you contacted the EEOC? if not, call/write and see if they can help you: https://eeoc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/334
Yes they are federally funded and have such policies. Like I said when I was harassed about my ethnicity I did use the proper channels and the results where dismal to say the least. That was 2 years ago. Since then I have seen nothing but prejudice in general amongst the vast majority of my coworkers. But when I was harassed about my ethnicity they got a talking to by the head supervisor, and I got to keep my job, thats it. I was given negative reviews by the person harassing me and nearly fired. Since then I have kept quiet but it is well known that the person who harassed me is still speaking ill of me to this day 2 years later. So know that my orientation is out there I know what's in store. ---------- Post added 11th Aug 2011 at 10:59 PM ---------- I haven't yet contacted the eeoc, but I have been reading my companies policies, and beginning to review the employment laws. I have mixed feelings on whether or not to inform my supervisors since I have tried that in the past to no result.
just want to point out that private companies don't get a free card when it comes to discrimination in the workplace. in the U.S., federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on race, age (over 40), sex, color, national origin, religion, or disability - whether the employer is private or public. some states also have laws protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation, including new york. ---------- Post added 11th Aug 2011 at 11:08 PM ---------- you should also try the ny division of human rights if you haven't, esp if some of the discriminatory behavior is based on your orientation (sexual orientation isn't a protected class at the federal level, but it is under ny state law) http://www.dhr.state.ny.us/doc/poster.pdf
regardless of your past experiences, we have something called a due process. With the last incident being over 2 years ago, your going to have to see him/her again. If the harrasment continues, you need to go the next person above your supervisor. And again if it continues this is where you file a lawsuit. One thing that comes into play with harrassment complaints is whether or not the harrassment "interferes with your work." Or makes you work place uncomfortable. You stated that currently nothing is being said directly to you and that you are at an outside job site. Im no laywer so I cant say for sure if you have a case or not. What I will say is follow a due process and tred very lightly. And call a lawyer, there is no sense in guessing the correct course of action. As a side note. If you are ever fired for filing a formal complaint you have an almost unbeatable case of wrongfl termination. Again if you follow the proper steps your company cant fire you for calling something to thier attention.
Even if they don't do anything, you still have to notify them of what's happening, because if you don't your case won't go anywhere if you end up filing a lawsuit. Like Wanderer said, even if you know they won't do anything, due process.
Before you make a decision on what you are going to do, you should start documenting all these incidents. You want to establish a record of your communication with them, and also all instances of when you felt like you were being harassed. These may be important later if you decide to file a lawsuit. Even if you didn't file a lawsuit, it's important to show these to supervisors, or the people above them, etc.
DO go to your superiors about it - even if they do nothing like before, at least it will be documented (and their lack of response will be documented). This will help your case if you do decide to go elsewhere to deal with this, and if you superiors are actually helpful this time, it will save you a lot of trouble. Keep in mind that even if the things going on in your workplace are illegal, there might not be any action taken to fix it. The difference between the law and the reality is there. My older sister told the labor board that her boss hadn't been paying workers what they were entitled to. He fired her for that, and even though it was illegal for him to have done so, the labor board didn't do anything about it. Their answer was, "Yes, it was against the law, but what are you gonna do?".
As I mentioned above, you should document your communications and these instances, by yourself. Don't trust your supervisors or anyone else to document anything, that could turn out to be a huge mistake, especially since they will be the ones in possession of that documentation. Make sure to time and date each document you type/write, and to sign each document with your name (certify that it is you who actually wrote it).
Do you have a Human Resources department? If you do go straight to them. If not you may want to contact the state's labor relations board.
that's a hard topic. in childish work environments, they "discipline" people by turning a blind eye but making things look like they're disciplining people on "paper". as you have seen,people are still making the racial jokes and comments and nothing is being done about it. you can try and file an eeoc which likely is only going to get the people a hand slap and they will still harass you behind your back or when noone is looking. personally i would look for another job if possible. if you want to stay there and deal with their craziness, then file the eeoc. but as you have seen, that too may just be a joke. also trying to take people to court over these types of things somewhat its a catch 22. say you win and you get a settlement and you stop working there and you look for anohter job, first question is...why did you leave. "oh i had a work lawsuit filed due to harrassment". most employers dont want the liability on their hands and may see you as a potential "issue" that they would rather not deal with. I would say have a discussion with managment about the situation, document that discussion, see if things improve, keep your eyes open for another place of employement. if you decide to stay, start documenting dates, times, situations, who was around when things were said, etc.
Yeah i think i'm going to wind up documenting things religiously. I'm ok as long as I stay in an outlying work gang like the one i'm in now. I spoke to a lawyer and he said i don't have much to stand on until people start directly saying things to me. But some of my employees are supportive of me and have already offered help. I'll try to keep my chin up and start working on my education so i can either move up or move on. Thanks to everyone for all the advice.
