Common areas of exploitation

Although it is legal for employers to pose questions at the hiring interview that test your motivation, maturity, willingness to accept instruction, interest in the job, and ability to communicate, inquiries made to further discriminatory practices are illegal. Common areas of exploitation encompass questions pertaining to color, national origin, citizenship, language, and relatives. For example, it is illegal to ask the following questions under federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines and state regulations:

Color: What is your skin color?

National Origin: What is your ancestry? What is your mother's native language? What is your spouse's nationality? What is your maiden name?

Citizenship: Of what country are you a citizen? Are your parents or spouse naturalized or native-born citizens? When did they acquire citizenship? Are you a native-born citizen?

Language: What is your native tongue? How did you acquire the ability to read, write, and speak a foreign language?

Relatives: Names, addresses, ages and other pertinent information concerning your spouse, children, or relatives not employed by the company. What type of work does your mother or father do?

Tip: You have the right to refuse to answer any of the above questions at the hiring interview. If you choose not to answer them, you can politely inform the interviewer that you believe the questions are illegal and refuse to answer them on that basis. If you are then denied the job, you may have a strong case for damages after speaking with a representative from the EEOC, the Human Rights Commission, or a knowledgeable lawyer provided you can prove the denial stemmed from a refusal to answer such questions.

Another common area of race discrimination occurs when companies deliberately impose higher hiring standards than necessary, which tends to exclude minorities. All employment criterion requirements must be directly related to the job; minorities cannot be excluded unnecessarily.