UNIVERSITY OF MINDANAO

PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS
Matina, Davao City

Discrimination is Still Alive in the Workplace

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements in MBA 200
Human Resource Management

Submitted to:
Prof. Joel Tan

Prepared by:
Emmanuel Panuelos

October 2019
Background of the Study

Discrimination is a real and distressing problem that continues to exist in

modern day society. Discrimination in the workplace takes place when an employer
discriminates against an employee in relation to work-related decisions, including
such issues as hiring, firing, promotions, and availability of benefits. In one of our
classes this semester at Human Resource Management, one of the first topics we
talked about is about the case of Microsoft – Discrimination at the workplace. “In
January 2001, seven of Microsoft’s former and current African-Americans employees
filed a discrimination suit against the company. It is one of the largest discrimination
suits ever filed in the United States, alleged racism and plantation mentality at their
workspace and sought $5 billion in damages. Microsoft was accused of discriminating
against its employees through performance evaluations, pay packages, promotions,
wrongful terminations and retaliation. Willie Gray, one of the leading attorneys dealing
in discrimination suits argued that company showed plantation attitude when it came
to deal with African-American, only 2.6% of employees and 1.6% of its managers are
black. Microsoft remained in the news for discriminating women and African-
Americans throughout the 1980s and early 1990s”.

Reaction/Insight

Discrimination still remains in the work today despite laws put into place to
protect employee rights from treating a person or group of individuals less favorably
due to his/her race, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status,
pregnancy, political belief. it is important that businesses have the right precautions
and policies to prevent discrimination. According to study, below are some of the
cases and situation where discrimination is present in the workplace.

Gender Discrimination

Gender discrimination, also referred to as “sex-based discrimination,” or

“sexual discrimination,” involves the unfavorable treatment of a person based on his
or her gender. Gender discrimination also refers to individuals with gender identity
issues, or transgender status. Sexual discrimination laws make it illegal to base hiring,
firing, job assignments, promotions, fringe benefits, and more on an individual’s
gender.
For example:

Quick Numbers accounting firm gives employees an annual raise. After

Jennifer has been passed over for a raise three years in a row, she discovers that the
company consistently gives raises to all male employees, and only to male employees.
This constitutions gender discrimination, as the female employees are not afforded the
same benefits as the men.

Age discrimination:

Age discrimination occurs when an employer treats an applicant or employee

less favorably based on his or her age. Age discrimination is most commonly seen with
older employees and applicants, as some employers attempt to force certain
employees into retirement to cut their bottom line, or refuse to hire applicants over a
certain age. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prohibits discrimination
against employees over the age of 40, though some states have enacted laws making
it illegal to discriminate against workers based on age. It is also unlawful for an
employee to be harassed based on age.

For example:

Roger has been employed at Capital Manufacturing for 28 years, and has
steadily risen through the ranks to his current position as a senior line supervisor.
Although Roger started working at the company for minimum wage, raises through the
years ensure he has a very comfortable salary now.

The company is going through some financial difficulties, and the board of
directors decides that it would be a good idea to let some of the most senior employees
go, as their salaries are a large drain on the payroll. For this purpose, Capital
Manufacturing institutes a mandatory retirement age of 65, which will leave 67-year
old Roger out in the cold. This is considered age discrimination.

Setting a policy of mandatory retirement at a specified age is considered age

discrimination in the U.S., and is illegal, as is asking an employee to retire because of
his or her age. There are, however, certain occupations which require high levels of
physical fitness, emotional skill, or mental sharpness, which may necessitate retiring
employees when they reach an age at which they cannot keep up with the demands
of the job. These occupations include airline pilots, air traffic controllers, law
enforcement officers, and firefighters.
Racial Discrimination

Racial discrimination refers an employer’s unfavorable treatment of a person

because of his race, or any characteristics associated with a specific race, such as
skin color, or hair texture. Racial discrimination also covers the poor treatment of a
person based on his or her marriage to someone of a certain race, or association with
a certain racial group. Racial discrimination may be perpetrated by an employer toward
an employee or applicant of the same race, or against an employee or applicant of a
different race.

Racial discrimination in the workplace may also include harassment of any

employee based on his or her race. This includes making, or allowing others to make,
racial slurs or derogatory remarks, or allowing the display of any racially-offensive
symbols.

For example:

A law firm has a single open position for a lawyer specializing in financial cases,
to which they intend to promote an existing employee. One of the candidates is a white
man with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, who has advised the firm on such cases
for four years. The other candidate is an African-American employee who has a
master’s degree in accounting, and a law degree.

The firm promotes the white male candidate, altering the position to allow a
junior attorney to work together with him. This leaves the other applicant believing that
he was not offered the promotion based on his race, rather than on a lack of
qualifications for the job.

If an employee is dealing with discrimination in the workplace, he should

carefully document all instance of the discrimination or harassment. This may be done
by writing down the date, time, and details of each discriminatory act, as well as by
keeping copies of voicemails, emails, text messages, as well as any physical evidence,
which prove the discrimination. Such documentation, as well as a list of other people
who may have witnessed the acts, may be important to an investigation.

The employee should report workplace discrimination, in writing, to his

employer right away, keeping a copy of the notice. This ensures that, even if the
problem has to be reported to a higher authority, the employer cannot claim ignorance
of the situation.
 Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world, and not all people can enjoy
equal opportunities and rights. This refers not only to our personal lives, but to our
working environment as well; employees can be discriminated and abused because of
certain features they possess, such as the color of skin, their ethnicity or gender, age,
marital status, disabilities, and the like.

There are several ways to deal with workplace discrimination. Individuals who
have experienced discrimination or harassment at work are recommended to stand
firm under verbal attacks, remain confident about their own abilities and judgments,
and try not to stay alone with the abusive person. Just like what the seven employees
of Microsoft did in the case wherein they fight for their rights and filed a complaint
against their previous company. Or another way is communication with HR department
which is usually done by calling for a meeting in a quiet, confidential place in order to
admit and discuss the problem; complaining to competent authorities; developing
respective policies together with sanctions applied in case there is a violation
committed by workers.

Recommendation

The reasons discrimination is still alive in the workplace has much to do with
the lack of information, standard policy in the workplace and lack of training. An
important aspect to eliminating racial, ethnic, religious, sexual and age-related
discrimination is by putting clear policies in place and consider on-going methods of
enforcement to ensure that everyone not only knows what behaviors will not be
tolerated, but the consequences as well. it is important for employers to take care that
the company handbook, policies, and practices are uniform, regardless of employee
race, gender, ethnicity, age, religion, or disability. Encourage open communication
between management, employees and even clients, so that everyone feels heard and
included at all times. Facilitate effective mediation should any conflict arise.

HR to organized activities like team buildings, sensitivity training seminars and

it is also advisable to offer special training to identify what constitutes as “problematic”
behavior. In addition, productivity rises and stress-related leaves of absence are no
longer a concern. Because of this, employees will go the extra mile, such as working
longer hours to complete deadlines, to produce good results. Also, employees with
different cultural backgrounds are able to attract like-minded clients, which boosts
company revenue, and find quicker solutions to sourcing, servicing and allocation of
resources.
References

“Microsoft – Discrimination at the Workplace” – Case Study

“What is Workplace Discrimination and Harassment?” Australian Human Rights

Commission. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 July 2013. <http://www.humanrights.gov.au/what-
workplace-discrimination-and-harassment>.

“Preventing Workplace Violence and Workplace Harassment.” Ontario Ministry of

Labor. N.p., July 2011. Web. 05 July 2013.
<http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/sawo/pubs/fs_workplaceviolence.php>.