EEOC Files Suit Over Racial Slurs; George Learns a New One (To Not Use)
The EEOC has filed a lawsuit alleging that a a supervisor at a medical clinic in California used the word “reggin” (”nigger” spelled backwards) and other coded derogatory words when referring to a black file clerk.
The suit is for a racially hostile work environment (a/k/a racial harassment) and retaliation.
”Even though the n-word is backward, it doesn’t remove the fact that it’s an inflammatory racial slur,” [says] an EEOC attorney . . . . ”We’re seeing more and more cases these days in which code words are being used to cloak discrimination. We’re starting to recognize that this is a problem.”
[T]he agency looks at several factors when investigating a bias complaint involving code words.
”We look at the code words: Who’s stating them, tone of voice, do they mean it in a derogatory fashion?” . . . ”We have to look at the context.”
Source:
HR.BLR.com: “EEOC Files Suit Over Racial Slur Said Backwards.”
See also Mercury News: “Clerk alleges racial code words”:
A California employment attorney is quoted (paraphrased, actually) as saying “it has been decades since he heard of a case in which a manager was using racial code words, or even blatant racial epithets. He said companies are now training their employees that such words aren’t acceptable.”
Where’s he been? Allegations of blatant racial epithets are quite common, I think. But perhaps less so with managers — or in California.
In any event, this “reggin” word was news to me. Being kind of a word guy — and definitely a fanatical Googler — I Googled it and found some interesting things.
- The word has been kicked around and defined rather brutally and nastily by participants in the Urban Dictionary.
- An old-timer reports it was already in use back in 1957.
- Some people apparently have “Reggin” for a last name (or pseudonym)– and so do some businesses.
- So does a car (”Mike’s Pontiac 6000: “Reggin Mobile.“)
- Also a cat (whose bio states: “I think I am part black panther,” which maybe is just an innocent reference to the actual animal, maybe to black radicals of the 60s and 70s.)
Amazing what Google will find, n’est-ce pas?
Back to serious stuff, here’s what the EEOC says about racial slurs and the like:
Failing to provide a work environment free of racial harassment is a form of discrimination under Title VII. Liability can result from the conduct of a supervisor, coworkers, or non-employees such as customers or business partners over whom the employer has control.
A hostile environment can be comprised of various types of conduct. While there is not an exhaustive list, examples include offensive jokes, slurs, epithets or name calling, physical assaults or threats, intimidation, ridicule or mockery, insults or put-downs, offensive objects or pictures, and interference with work performance.
The conduct need not be explicitly racial in nature to violate Title VII’s prohibition against race discrimination, but race must be a reason that the work environment is hostile.
To determine if a work environment is hostile, all of the circumstances should be considered. Incidents of racial harassment directed at other employees in addition to the charging party are relevant to a showing of hostile work environment.
There are two requirements for race-based conduct to trigger potential liability for unlawful harassment: (1) the conduct must be unwelcome; and (2) the conduct must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the terms and conditions of employment in the mind of the victim and from the perspective of a reasonable person in the victim’s position.
The conduct must be unwelcome in the sense that the alleged victim did not solicit or incite the conduct and regarded it as undesirable or offensive. When the conduct involves mistreatment or is racially derogatory in nature, unwelcomeness usually is not an issue, even when the alleged harasser and victim are of the same race.
Sometimes employers argue that the conduct in question was not unwelcome because it was playful banter, and the alleged victim was an active participant. The facts in such cases require careful scrutiny to determine whether the alleged victim was, in fact, a willing participant.
Related Recent Post:
“Why Harassment Training is Essential & Must Go Beyond Sexual Harassment” (referring to racial harassment; discusses another such case).
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