Wal-Mart Accused of Workplace Discrimination

Fresno, CAIt may seem like a problem from decades ago, but workplace discrimination is allegedly still occurring. Discrimination lawsuits are frequently filed, claiming that the defendants discriminated against employees on the basis of race, age and/or gender. The good news is that there are laws designed to protect people from employee discrimination; the bad news is that there are still employers out there who discriminate against others.

According to The Huffington Post, a lawsuit has been filed against Wal-Mart, alleging the company subjected Latino employees at a Sam's Club in Fresno, California, to a hostile work environment. The plaintiffs claim they were verbally harassed, including having derogatory words used against them. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which, according to Al Norman, writer with The Huffington Post, "does not file a suit unless it has given up trying to work out a voluntary agreement with a company."

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and requests that Wal-Mart establish a written complaint procedure for employees who have been subjected to discrimination. According to an EEOC representative, one co-worker started the harassment, which was brought to management's attention, however Wal-Mart management allegedly failed to prevent further harassment and allowed the discrimination to continue.

The lawsuit was filed under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination against people based on their national origin.

If this all sounds familiar, Wal-Mart has faced other EEOC discrimination lawsuits. The Post cites numerous examples of discrimination lawsuits filed against Wal-Mart. In 2005, Wal-Mart was told to pay $7.5 million after a worker with cerebral palsy filed suit for discrimination. In 2004, Wal-Mart was accused by the EEOC of rejection truck driver applications from African Americans. In 2001, Wal-Mart reached a $6.8 million settlement after the company was accused of violating the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Meanwhile, as the workforce ages, some employees are finding that their age is becoming a negative factor in the eyes of their employers. A lawsuit has been filed against 3M, alleging the company discriminates against employees older than 46 in performance evaluations and forces older employees out of the company. A lawyer for the plaintiffs says the discrimination is visible across all of 3M's business units.

According to the lawsuit, employees older than 46 were discriminated against in evaluations, promotion and pay. Furthermore, younger employees were shown favoritism when it came to the company's specialty training program.

3M has said that the allegations are without merit.

Discrimination lawsuits are filed against companies both large and small. A discrimination lawsuit was filed against a Cadillac dealership by 3 men, who allege they were subjected to age and religious discrimination. The men say they were laid off because they did not attend weekly prayer gatherings of dealership employees and because of their age. The men are all 55 years or older.

According to their lawsuit, the men were laid off and told that the company could not afford their position any more. However, they claim they were replaced with younger workers.

Although it may seem as though discrimination should be a problem of the past, the truth is that many Americans face discrimination at the hands of their employers, whether it comes in the form of harassment, unequal pay, unfair treatment on the job site or even unfair job termination. There are laws designed to protect workers from discrimination, but it is often up to the worker to get fed up with the unfair treatment and take the matter to the courts.