Black Sales Journal

Fact: Only a small percentage of ‘situations’ involving discrimination end up needing court or government intervention, and that is the way it should be.

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As a matter of fact, you should realize that once items are forced into the ‘light’ of conversation, they are usually worked out, even if they are not totally agreed upon.  Employment grievances need to be dealt with correctly for an organization to maintain positive momentum.  How they are handled is evidence of the quality and commitment to fairness of an organization.

I am a believer that employment grievances must be ‘nipped in the bud’, or in other words, handled early and professionally.  If you are an employee who feels as if you are being discriminated against, you need to be prepared to detail your claims and concerns to your manager (See Black Sales Journal 3/3/2011 – When You Feel Screwed, What Do You Do?).  You should record in writing your concerns and your complaints for your own review.  Reducing concerns to writing is always a good practice.  You should not have to convince yourself that your claim is real as it should be evident.

The next important step is to seek counsel from a mentor or confidant for the sake of objectivity.  This gives you an opportunity to review with someone who is not emotional about the issue.  It is important for you to have that outside, objective view, as your objective is to make sure that you have a legitimate and substantiated complaint.  Your credibility is important, and this is just a first step.

Now the interesting part is that managers should do something similar with actions that they take.  Managers should consult colleagues as well as the human resources department regarding actions that may result in potential claims.  With the right amount of scrutiny, you end up with any decisions and actions that are markedly wrong being reviewed and cast correctly.  It is just that simple.  The exceptions to this are small firms without an HR department and those that have no systematic review.

The Equalizer

When discrimination happens, the federal government has put into place an ‘equalizer’ that can help to solve problems.  This process is not a lawsuit.  What they have put into place is an inexpensive way to challenge and be heard on issues involving racial discrimination.

The equalizers are the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) laws.  These laws make it illegal for employers to discriminate against an employee or potential employee in certain workplaces.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  This agency that is charged with the responsibility to “promote equal opportunity in employment through administrative and judicial enforcement of the civil rights laws and through education and technical assistance.”

There can be variance in some state laws, but federal laws prohibit discrimination in employment for the following:

• Race
• Age
• Disability
• Sex or Gender
• Sexual Harassment
• Religion
• National Origin

That means using it after all other options have been exhausted including discussions with your manager and certainly with your human resources department.  There are many that are concerned about making those contacts, yet for something as important as your employment future, you need to be looking the people that affect you face-to-face.  There is no benefit to ‘guerilla’ ambushing your employer in this situation, you should have your discussions about the types of items described in Black Sales Journal 12/30/2010 – Preference, Perceptions, Prejudice and Your Employer.    Your manager needs to understand your concerns if you are aggrieved, and the first question that HR would have for you is, “Did you discuss this with your manager?”

Don’t be intimidated, have the discussion and once complete, reduce to writing in journal form the content of the discussion.  Do not rely on your memory.

For the Price Of A Stamp

Filing an EEOC claim is inexpensive in terms of cost, as it used to be the price of a stamp.  Note that if you are planning to file an EEOC complaint, you should use it wisely.  I would suggest to you need legal counsel and patience.  There can be monetary awards if they are warranted, but the process is not easy, and you should avoid any abuse at all costs.

If you have a claim, it should be evident to you and to those you discuss it with, including your counsel.  This is not the place to play out a vendetta or grudge, but if you are aggrieved, it is the way to go after you have the discussion noted above.

There are time lines with the typical deadline to file a complaint with the EEOC being 180 days from the act of discrimination.  If a state or local law applies to the same act, the deadline can be extended to up to 300 days.

The formal EEOC complaint can be filed at one of the field offices across the country (there are 53 field offices) or you can file by mail with a signed letter.

The EEOC does not accept claims on-line, but does have an online assessment tool that will help you determine whether you have a claim.

Use this information if you have good reason to, and remember that it is not what you know but what you can prove.  Have your ducks in line, or forego the process until you do have them in line.

Always be the professional.

Your comments are welcome. You can reach me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.

I run this post every every once in a while.  It will always be relevant and I believe it is true.    Do remember that the no matter what your color, the your use of race  or ethnicity in your assessment of whether you were treated fairly in receiving a promotion or favor is in essence ‘playing the race card’.  Only involve race, color,  or ethnicity  when you really believe it was truly unfairly utilized against you, and you  have some substantiation to  prove it!

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Are you playing the race card?  Without doubt, this is a loaded question.  Playing the race card in the work setting is similar to dropping a hand grenade in a prayer session.  It is polarizing and negative and changes the landscape and the game.  Quite frankly, it creates an explosion when you do it, and even if there are no casualties, you have created strident enemies all around you.

What is this ‘thing’ we call the race card and is there ever a time to use it?

Simple Definitions

To capture the definition of race card, I visited Wikipedia.  It is not always the most credible source, but it puts a stake in the ground of controversial subjects including this one:

According to Wikipedia:

In the less critical sense, the phrase is commonly used in two contexts. In the first, and more common context, it alleges that someone has deliberately and falsely accused another person of being a racist in order to gain some sort of advantage.[1] (Continued)

In the second context, it refers to someone exploiting prejudice against another race for political or some other advantage. The use of thesouthern strategy by a political candidate is said by some to be a version of playing the race card, such as when former Senator Jesse Helms, during his 1990 North Carolina Senate campaign ran an ad showing a black man taking a white man’s job, intended as a criticism of the idea of racial quotas. The ad was interpreted by many people as trying to play to racist fears among white voters.

Excerpted from “Race Card”, Wikipedia 9/3/2011

The most important portion of the definition of “race card” from Wikipedia above is accentuated here:

“…it alleges that someone has deliberately and falsely accused another person of being a racist in order to gain some sort of advantage.”

Quite simply put, the race card manifest itself in our business environment in a couple of profound ways:

• An individual (let’s say Black employee) suggest issues involving race as the reason for some less than desirable action on the part of a manager or superior, which results in an impairment or disadvantage.  The employee specifically cites race or racism as being evident.
• A manager or another employee attempts to discredit an employee (let’s say Black employee) by falsely suggesting that the employee has cited race as the reason for a particular treatment or actions.

There are other ways that it can play out, yet these represent some of the more prominent issues that have to do with this interchange.  No one wants to be discredited.  Not the manager, nor the employee.  The mere mention that one feels discriminated against is toxic in an organization, so both of these are problematic.

Falsely accusing someone of being racist is a simple concept.  It is wrong and playing that card is detrimental to all Black professionals who are working to be the best that they can be.  Misrepresenting what an employee thinks or feels about any aspect of discrimination to pre-empt an action or discussion is just as wrong.

So playing the race card can mean a lot of things, but it happens both ways.  Both ways are detrimental to good relations, and we should be real careful about alleging that race and racism is a motivation unless it is quite evident.

What if it is true?  If it is true, you might phrase that as ’playing the race card’ as well, yet be very careful as being able to prove the truth is not an easy task.  Even though ‘the truth will set you free’, it may not get you justice in a case like this.

What Can You Prove?

It is always smart to avoid any claim that you cannot prove.  Remember, “It is not what you know, it is what you can prove!” With that in mind, your claims regarding management should be restrained when it comes to racism, and always yield to that which you can substantiate.

If you have a provable claim of disparate treatment, you should have discussions on the basis of that treatment, not racism.  In other words, if you are being treated unfairly, have those discussions with the manager or HR; yet be reserved with any race card.   The best HR professionals will understand you and your claim if you are clear, and if the claim is actionable, they will act on it.  Good HR professionals consider the possibility racism, whether they tell you or not.

I always say “what you can prove” because racism (in this case) is an attitude which is evidenced by how a manager treats his/her employees.  Proving that there is a racist attitude means nothing if it is not accompanied by activities that show discrimination.  What are you trying to prove?  Proving that you are discriminated against is difficult, yet doable, but it is not easy at all

Win the Smart Way

Don’t make assertions based on the race card.  Challenge management to be fair and unbiased, and you can do that without charges that are extremely difficult to prove.  Stand up for yourself and keep good objective records that will substantiate any objective complaints that you might have.

If you suspect that there is a problem, bounce the situation off of a mentor (if you trust him/her) or a confidant in another field or industry for tips on how they would handle it.  Most bona fide professionals can ‘smell’ racism when it is present.  Always base your complaints on fairness and equity unless it is something simple to prove.  Fairness and equity are important and lend themselves to reasonable proof.  Unfortunately racism is insidious and it is never lends itself to easy proof.

An example of fairness and equity is illustrated in this example:

Your manager is giving all of the new prospects to someone else, and you need new prospects, you should consider approaching that on the basis of fairness and equity, even if  you suspect racism.

Benefit – It puts everyone on notice that you recognize that you are not being treated fairly.

Weakness – You don’t change what has happened in the past, only going forward.

In this situation, you speak to the manager openly and frankly about what you believe is the disparity.  The manager should be the first stop, and he or she will recognize that you are being a professional by bringing it to him/her first.   If it persists, your next stop is HR to discuss the actions.  You will get some advice from there about how to proceed, yet realize that you need your “ducks in a row” as you consider going above your manager.

If it is repairable, it normally can be done at that level.  Always be the professional in your actions.  It will pay dividends.

Your comments are appreciated.