Texaco's Racial Discrimination

After reviewing the data it is apparent the promotional rate of women in managerial positions when compared to the men is disproportional to the size of the population. This shows disparate treatment, the company hires women, but women do not promote at the same pace as men. This shows strong evidence of discrimination and if not resolved will lead to a violation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Another law the plant may be violating is the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. This law “forbids discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” (Noe, Hollenback, Gerhart & Wright, 2011). According to the case, the plant employs approximately 1,500 workers and one third of the workforce is Hispanic (Fransson, Gareett & Noll, 2005). The plant mostly hires Hispanic to

In a study that was reviewed by Deitch and her colleagues (2003), blacks were interviewed at work about whether the felt they were being discriminated. Most participants had difficulty answering because they were not sure whether discrimination was linked to their race or different factors like gender. Such inconclusive research only adds to the haziness of work related issues defined as ones of “racial discrimination” (Deitch, Barsky, Butz, Chan, Brief & Bradley).

During the last part of this century, businesses and organizations have heavily relied on affirmative actions laws to ensure equal employment opportunities. The failure of this dependence upon legislation is that is doesn't address the full spectrum of diversity in the workplace (6). Affirmative actions laws have limitations, discriminating against people holding protected-class status such as women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans,

The founding fathers of this nation envisioned a dream which granted life and liberty to all citizens with equality and without prejudice. The ideology of democracy is the reason America declared its independence from Spain. However, their vision of a free nation was in the interest of the white class citizens, with the desire of reaching their goal in becoming rich and prosperous farmers, doctors, and all the things people hoped to pursue in life. This is the American Dream people were looking for in the birth of a new nation; evidently, the freedom of being treated fairly and having the same rights would mean segregating the social classes and labeling citizens by color of nationality.

Workplace discrimination takes place when an employee is hostilely discriminated against for one or more reasons, including gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity or race. Per the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, racial discrimination comprises of treating a job candidate or employee negatively because they are of a certain ethnicity or because of particular features linked with their race, such as hair texture, facial features or skin color. While the law forbids workplace harassment and discrimination in all facets of employment, from hiring and training to raises and layoffs, the EEOC still reports thousands of claims a year. One such claim was filed by the EEOC in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota against Alliant Techsystems (ATK), on behalf of Tyeastia Green.

Arousing the Civil Rights Act instated in 1964, Judge Lee Rosenthal of Southern District of Texas ruled that Title VII forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, supplementing the traditional instated prohibition of prejudice based on one’s color, race, religion, sex, and national origin in the workplace. Concluding that biased notions towards one’s sexuality and transgender status are forms of discriminant towards one’s sex, Judge Rosenthal decreed the inclusion for protections of non-heteronormative individuals.

The case, Dunlap v. Tennessee Valley Authority, explores the issue of suspected racial discrimination associated with disparate treatment and disparate impact caused by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) against a qualified, experienced boilermaker and foreman that is African American. Questions for the court to evaluate regarding this case include: Is this a case of disparate treatment and/or impact and was the plaintiff, David Dunlap, subject to racial discrimination? Finally, did the TVA use personal hiring practices that allowed for racial bias in the interviewing process?

In addition to African Americans, Texans had used a system of racial profiling to convicted Hispanics as criminals between the 1920s and 1950s. Historian Oscar Jaquez Martinez states that “many European Americans sustained the racist premise that since Indian blood ran through Mexicans vines, this made them naturally, irrational, confrontationally, prune to committing to crimes.” This proves that many American states including Texas believed that Hispanics like Mexicans caused trouble. As a result, the texas justice system along with many other states had persecuted many Hispanics through their justice system. According to Oscar Jaquez Martinez, “Mexican immigrants were more likely to face flag flagrant violations of civil rights, trumped-up

The company offered inconsistent versions of why Mr. Gill was terminated and who did the termination. They were indifferent to Mr. Gill’s concerns and did nothing to address those employees engaging in blatant racial harassment even after other black employees complained and, most damaging, the company retaliated against Mr. Gill when he complained by terminating his

In a perfect world, people would be equal in rights, opportunities, and responsibilities, despite their race or gender. In the world we live in, however, we always face all kinds of neglect based on different attributes. All over the United States, certain people treat others with prejudice because of particular features they possess. Unfortunately, prejudice and discrimination occur even in places which, by definition, should be free of all personal prejudices – specifically, in offices and other business surroundings. This tragedy is called workplace discrimination; not every unfair behavior at work, however, can be assessed as discrimination. Discrimination in the workplace happens when an employee experiences unfair treatment due to their race, gender, age, religion, marital status, national origin, disability or veteran status, or other characteristics. Discrimination is one of the largest issues people face in the workplace and it must be dealt with. The U.S. have laws and regulations on discrimination but it still often occurs. Workplace discrimination appears in hiring, training, promotion, firing, and other institutional or interpersonal treatment. Discrimination sometimes causes an employee to leave or quit the workplace, resign from a position, or in more severe cases, to commit suicide or act violently against the discriminators. Discrimination is one of the largest issues many people face in the workplace.

In 1994, six African-American employees sued Texaco, citing racial discrimination. Texaco executives had been secretly recorded, thus confirming the issue. Texaco's CEO responded by issuing a public apology and admitted shame and embarrassment. The executives involved were suspended, however with pay but no benefits, pending the result of the investigations. Texaco execs went on tour, visiting all branches and sites of the company in person to apologize to the employees. Texaco even hired Uniworld Group, which is an African-American owned advertising agency, to run an ad campaign, figuring this would settle the crisis. Texaco settled the suit by agreeing to pay $176 million and the CEO added discrimination checks for executives and managers,

With all of the advances in modern society and human behavior, racism is still a crisis that many people have to cope with. It can occur at any place or at any time, including in the workplace. Racial discrimination arises when someone is treated differently based on their actual or perceived race. Many people believe that if one were to be in the vicinity of a respected workplace that they would be respected by all co-workers and employers; this is in no way true. A big amount of minority employees, mainly African-Americans, are affected by racial discrimination in the workplace whether it’s from their employers or their fellow co-workers, and it is not at all acceptable. Racial discrimination is a situation that has always been a problem, so we must show an effort to try to eliminate it from our society.

Discrimination continues to run rampant throughout organizations in both the United States and worldwide. The Supreme Court case, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., dealt with 1.5 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees that claim that they had been a victim of gender discrimination. The ensuing pages will discuss the specific issues that the plaintiffs encountered, followed by suggestions from a human resource manager’s stand point in rectifying adverse impact within the Wal-Mart organization.

This paper will assess my personal experience with prejudice in the workplace, including the implications of the situation to the organization in terms of its stakeholders, reputation, and its legal responsibilities. Furthermore, I will analyze the negative effects the discriminatory behavior had on morale and functioning of coworkers and employees. Lastly, I will recommend three action steps that I would have taken as a manager to avoid the situation, in addition to three steps to render the situation.