Workplace Discrimination

Careerbuilder.com, a website for job seekers, has a report out on Discrimination on the American Job. It was an interesting read.

It was interesting because of the terminology. The report was a stufy "on seven diverse groups." The groups they call "diverse" were "African American, Hispanic, Asian, Female, Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender (GLBT), Individuals with disabilities and Mature workers age 50 or older." These are labeled "diverse", which would mean that your average 30-something white male would be ... non-diverse. It seemed like a long way to go to avoid "offensive" terminology.

According to the study, "one-in-five working Americans feel they have faced discrimination on the job." Of the "75,768 discrimination charges" filed last year against employers, they found that "the most frequent charges were race (27,238), followed by sex (23,247) and retaliation against reporting discrimination (22,555). Other frequently cited charge bases were age (16,548), disability (15,575), national origin (8,327) and religion (2,541)."

Just what types of discrimination did the "diverse" group experience?

- Not receiving credit for one's work (48 percent)

- Not having concerns addressed or taken seriously (42 percent)

- Having co-workers talking behind one's back (33 percent)

- Being overlooked for a promotion (32 percent)

- Not being assigned to projects that will help worker gain more visibility in the company (32 percent)

- Having co-workers say derogatory comments to or in front of worker (31 percent)

- Feeling ideas or input are generally ignored (30 percent)

Now, I don't want to be perceived as minimizing the problem here. I know it happens. And I don't want to seem blithe about discrimination. I know it happens. And I'm absolutely sure that at times it happens because of factors like race, gender, age, disability, national origin, and religion. And, absolutely, there are laws against it ... as there should be. But, I have to wonder exactly how much it actually happens.

I happen to be, in the terms of this study, "non-diverse". I have none of the factors that they reported on. I am not black, Asian, or female. I am a heterosexual white male (currently) under the age of 50 with no discernible disabilities. (Oh, yeah, you readers know better -- "This guy's crazy" -- but we'll keep that our secret.) And it's really, really odd because I have experienced all of those discriminatory events. Every single one. But that's a problem, isn't it? I mean, this type of discrimination is brought about because of "diversity discrimination" ... and I'm ... non-diverse. In fact, it is my suspicion that anyone who has spent any time at all in the working world has experienced some or all of these regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age ... whatever you want to list.

It brings up a problem. Over 27,000 reports of racial discrimination in the work place were filed last year. The question is how many were actually because of race and how many were simply perceived to be because of race? How many employers said, "Sorry, I'm not going to promote you because you just aren't working up to our expectations" and the worker assumed a racial discrimination? The same is true for the rest of the discrimination reports. How many are really discrimination, and how many are just because? Are they talking behind your back because you did something stupid or because you're gay? Are they not assigning you to the high profile jobs because you're incompetent or because you're over 50? Are they making derogatory comments because they're humans and Most humans make derogatory comments or is it because you're a woman? How do you know?

As I said, I know it happens. I don't mean to belittle those to whom it has actually happened. But I also know that there is a segment of people who are gunshy -- conspiracy theorists of sorts. They see discrimination around every corner. They are the Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton types who are certain that if anything was done, it was done malevolently because of their race. Oh, and by the way, "diverse" people never discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or any such thing. And I have to wonder how many of those complaints are from the alarmists rather than the realists.

Here's what I've seen. This kind of stink gets raised, real or imagined. Lawsuits are filed. People are fired. Companies pay money. And it becomes ugly for everyone. In some cases, "diverse" people become pariahs, where people are afraid to hire them exactly because of lawsuits, not because of discrimination. In other cases, "diverse" people become a millstone. No one dares touch them because they have their finger on that "Discrimination!" button. But they aren't actually working. So everyone else has to pull the extra weight ... without receiving credit ... and getting overlooked for promotion ... without gaining more visibility ... spawning more derogatory comments. Oh, it's just ugly.

So ... what should I do? I've experienced all these discriminatory practices. I'm not in the "diverse" category. Do I file a complaint and throw off all the statistics? Or do I keep quiet and assume it's part of the job? Oh, what to do, what do do?