Forms of National Origin Discrimination

Discrimination in the workplace is a serious detriment to innovation, social relationships, and the economy. By targeting employees or job applicants for particular treatment based on their actual or perceived heritage, employers violate the law and limit the valuable contributions that these individuals could make if they were unconstrained by prejudice. While much attention has been paid to discriminatory practices that are attributable to gender, race, and religion, the sometimes subtle nature of national origin discrimination has been more difficult for workers and public opinion to accurately gauge.

If you believe that you were denied an opportunity or treated unfairly because of your perceived ethnic heritage, an experienced employment attorney can help you evaluate your legal options. Contact the Houston employment lawyers of the Ross Law Group at 713-482-6910.

Identifying Discriminatory Practices

One of the primary reasons that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other relevant pieces of legislation were absolutely necessary was the simple truth that employers have an undue amount of influence in any employment arrangement. This holds true even today, so you may be hesitant to contest what you perceive to be discriminatory practices. But this prevents you from acting in accordance with your own desires and from supporting the enforcement of much-needed laws.

If you observe any of the following actions, it may be time to contact an employment attorney:

• Name-based decisions – if a recruiter or HR person appears to reject the applications and resumes of qualified jobseekers that have “ethnic” names
• Linguistic separation – for example, if Spanish speaking employees are only assigned to work with Spanish-speaking clients, and lose opportunities because they are not able to work with English speakers
• Dialect-influenced assignments – if an employee is kept from a position because of a perceived accent, such a choice is only permissible if the position fundamentally requires greater English intelligibility

Contact Us

If your employer has treated you unfairly because of your ethnic heritage, contact the Houston national origin discrimination lawyers of the Ross Law Group at 713-482-6910 to learn more about your legal options.