Investigate and Resolve Discrimination Claims

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted to eliminate deeply entrenched patterns of employment discrimination against individuals because of their race, color, sex, religion, and national origin.  Three year later, age discrimination was prohibited with the passing of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. It took another 23 years for individuals with disabilities to be protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Since that time, many states have enacted their own laws prohibiting discrimination based on the federal protections, as well as, additional protections such as sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, matriculation, etc.  Forty-four years since the first laws recognizing and prohibiting discrimination it is evident that discriminatory employment practices have become more subtle and more difficult to identify and correct. 

When you receive an informal employee complaint or a formal charge of discrimination, it is critical that you immediately develop a strategy for conducting an investigation. You also want to advise the management team to treat the complainant fairly and objectively to avoid any retaliation claims. 

Workplace Dynamics can take on several roles to assist you in handling complaints or formal charges of discrimination.  We can advise you and direct your internal investigation or we can conduct a full investigation of the facts and allegations.  Since we have prior experience working for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, we know what it takes to defend a formal charge of discrimination and how to prepare your company’s position statement.

METRICS

The number of persons unemployed for a year or longer has increased significantly since the onset of the recession in December 2007.  In the second quarter of 2010, the share of the labor force unemployed for a year or longer reached a record high.  Men and persons aged 25 and older were somewhat overrepresented among those jobless for a year or more.

Distribution of unemployment by selected characteristics, not seasonally adjusted, second quarter 2010 (level in thousands)

Characteristics	Unemployed
	Total Unemployed		Unemployed 52 weeks or more
	Number	% distribution	Number	% distribution
Sex
Total, 16 years & older	14,621	100.0%	4,523	100.0%
Men	8,491	58.1%	2,773	61.3%
Women	6,130	41.9%	1,750	38.7%
Age
16 - 24 years	4,046	27.7%	779	17.2%
25 - 54 years	8,576	58.7%	2,928	64.7%
55 years & older	1,999	13.7%	816	18.0%
Race & Ethnicity
White	10,773	73.7%	3,165	70.0%
African American	2,796	19.1%	1,026	22.7%
Asian	535	3.7%	208	4.6%
Hispanic or Latino	2,695	18.4%	756	16.7%
Educational attainment
Total, 25 years & over	10,575	100.0%	3,744	100.0%
Less than a high school diploma	1,688	16.0%	573	15.3%
High school graduates	3,929	37.2%	1,451	38.8%
Some college/associate degree	2,934	27.7%	1,021	27.3%
College graduates	2,024	19.1%	699	18.7%

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 Note: Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding.  Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.  Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent. College graduates include persons with a bachelor's, master's, professional, or doctoral degree.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey