If an employee shows that a particular policy has a disproportionate impact on members of a particular race, the employer can defend the policy by showing that there is a legitimate, important, job-related reason that necessitates the policy. For example, a height requirement might pass legal muster if the employer can show that an employee must be at least a certain height to operate a particular type of machinery. However, an employer would be hard-pressed to justify a height requirement for a desk position.

What Is National Origin Discrimination?

An employer discriminates on the basis of national origin when it makes any employment decisions based on a person's ancestry, birthplace, or culture, or on linguistic characteristics or surnames associated with a particular national origin group. For example, an employer who refuses to hire people with Hispanic-sounding surnames discriminates, as does an employer who won't allow anyone with an accent to work with the public.

English-Only Rules May Be Allowed

A private employer may be able to prohibit on-duty employees from speaking any language other than English if it can show that the rule is necessary to the business. If the employer imposes an English-only rule, the employer must tell employees when they have to speak English (for example, whenever customers are present) and the consequences of breaking the rule. And, if an English-only rule is challenged, courts will look closely at its scope: If an employer forbids workers from ever speaking another language, even during breaks or when a customer who speaks that language is present, the rule is probably too extensive.

Harassment Is Illegal, Too

Harassment on the basis of race and national origin is also prohibited. Harassment is any conduct based on a person's race or national origin that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment or interferes with the person's work performance. Harassing conduct might include racial slurs, jokes about a particular ethnic group, physical acts of significance to a certain racial or ethnic group (for example, hanging or posting an offensive picture or object near an employee's workspace), or even comments or questions about a person's cultural habits.