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EPISODE #39 | Published 08.12.19
THE FUTURE OF WORK IS RACISM
Hi, I’m Jim Stroud and this is my podcast.
Recently, someone brought to my attention this app called – TruePublic. It’s a polling app that
tracks public opinon. One of the polling statements was “Racism is still common in the American
Workplace” and you as a TruePublic user have the choice to agree or disagree with the statement. I
thought the results were interesting. Out of the 1,201 votes, 84% of Democrats strongly agreed that
racism was common in the workplace whereas 62% of Republicans did not. Independents were in
the middle at 75%. For those who were Hispanic or Asian, the view was 80% agreeable, Blacks
strongly agreed at 86% and Whites agreed at 71%. And there were other breakdowns available, to
see them all, go to JimStroud.com or download the TruePublic app and find it there. But, I digress.
Why do so many people feel that racism abounds in their workplace? Is it really that common? I
didn’t think so because its never been my experience then, I took a look around and ohh… boy. Not
only does racism exist in some workplaces, I predict it will get worse. Stay tuned to find out what I
mean, after this.

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For those who don’t know about the EEOC here is a an overview of what they do, straight from their
website.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (aka EEOC) is responsible for
enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an
employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender
identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic
information. It is also illegal to discriminate against a person because the person complained
about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment
discrimination investigation or lawsuit.
Most employers with at least 15 employees are covered by EEOC laws (20 employees in
age discrimination cases). Most labor unions and employment agencies are also covered.
The laws apply to all types of work situations, including hiring, firing, promotions,
harassment, training, wages, and benefits.
Among other things, the EEOC tracks how many cases of discrimination they process per year, per
state. In case you are curious, Pennsylvania (4,463 cases), Texas (7,482 cases) and Florida (6,617
cases) were the states with the most cases processed by the EEOC in 2018.
Here are a few cases related to racism in the workplace that you might not have heard about it in the
news. As with every story I cite, links to everything are in the show notes which can be found at
JimStroud.com.
CareerAddict reports on JPMorgan Chase, quote…
Amidst ongoing allegations of a lack of diversity on Wall Street, high-profile investment
bank JPMorgan Chase settled out of court for $19.5 million with six of its employees
last year, citing its commitment to ensuring a diverse and inclusive environment as its reason
for avoiding litigation. The six employees in question – located at JPMorgan Chase branches
across the US – claim that they were relocated by the bank to less lucrative branches
than their white counterparts, thereby denying them numerous career and growth
opportunities. As part of the settlement, an additional $4.5 million will be set aside to fund
anti-discrimination training, BAME recruitment drives and coaching programmes for black
employees.
Campus Safety Magazine reports, quote…
A federal court in Virginia has entered a $200,000 judgment against Old Dominion
University (ODU) in favor of Brett Birkmeyer, a white former police officer in the
predominantly black ODU Police Department, who sued ODU claiming he was fired
by ODU because he is white and because he complained to ODU officials that he and
other white employees in the ODU Police Department were being subjected to race
discrimination.
And this case, EEOC v. Hamilton Growers, Inc., I found on XpertHR. Quote…
Hamilton Growers, Inc., d/b/a Southern Valley Fruit & Vegetable (Southern Valley), agreed
to pay $500,000 to settle a claim of racial bias brought by the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC alleged that Southern Valley violated Title VII
by terminating almost all American workers while retaining most of its workers from

Mexico. The EEOC also claimed that American workers were provided with "lesser job
opportunities," subject to different terms and conditions of employment such as delayed
starting times and early stop times, or denied the opportunity to work at all, while Mexican
workers were permitted to continue working. In addition to the monetary settlement,
Southern Valley agreed to exercise good faith and implement nondiscriminatory hiring
practices by recruiting and retaining qualified American workers and African-American
workers for all farm work positions.
When I looked for examples of judgements awarded as a result of EEOC litigation and/or related
lawsuits, I wanted to find a pattern. I wanted to gauge if racism in the workplace was an actual thing
or, if it was something that disgruntled employees do. After all, just because people file a case
against an employer for discrimination, doesn’t make it so; especially in light or the political and
cultural divide going on these days in America. So, imagine my delight and subsequent
disappointment, when I stumbled across this book called - “Rights on Trial: How Workplace
Discrimination Perpetuates Inequality.”
The authors Robert L. Nelson and Ellen Berrey were discussed in a Huffington Post article of which I
will quote…
The authors of the new book, Rights on Trial: How Workplace Discrimination Perpetuates
Inequality, examined nearly 2,000 cases filed between 1988 and 2003 across the U.S.. The
three authors interviewed more than 100 plaintiffs, defendants, lawyers and involved parties
to find that the workplace often is not fair in cases of discrimination. The success rate for
cases of discrimination filed is dismal; only two percent of plaintiffs win at trial. That is after
19 percent of the cases were dismissed. Half or 50 percent have early settlements, 18
percent of the cases are lost on summary judgment and 8 percent of the cases have a late
settlement.
To promote the book, the author posted audio of some of the people they interviewed for the book.
Here are some of the clips I found interesting. {Clip 1} & {Clip 2} & {Clip 3}
In the future, I think there will be more racism in the office because at its core, racism is the result
of ignorance. I don’t know you personally, so I rely on stereotypes and groupthink to form my
opinion rather than identify you as a person. People do it all the time which racism is why persists.
The changing demographics of America will surely exacerbate some of that. Do a search on
DuckDuckGo or Bing or Google for the phrase “the browning of America” for more insight into what I
mean. As more and more people enter the workforce from diverse backgrounds that you do not
know, understand or want to understand, the more racism will persist, to varying degrees.
Now add to that more women in leadership positions competing against men, and that increases
the likelihood of gender discrimination (and reverse gender discrimination). As minorities
increase in the population, more cases of reverse discrimination will likely occur.
And I don’t think that’s a race thing or a gender thing (for that matter), I think it’s a human thing.
No race or special group is without sin, in my opinion. Just put that group, any group in power and
watch them eventually take advantage of those with lesser influence.
One of my heroes, the Rev Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, “I have a dream that my four
little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but
by the content of their character.”

On one hand, my country still has some work to do before Rev King’s dream is fully realized yet
on the other hand, we have come a mighty long way. So much so, that I refuse to believe that
America is an inherently racist country. And I am not the only one who thinks that way. Listen to
how this Aftrican American radio personality - Larry Elder responds to the question, Is America
Racist?
Like everything else cited in my podcast, you can find a link to the full version of “Is America
racist?” by Larry Elder in my show notes, which are posted on Jim Stroud.com. Please check
them out and if you have not already, please rate my podcast on Apple Podcasts and/or on your
favorite podcast platform. I would so appreciate that.
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• 25 Off-Limits Interview Questions
• 10 demographic trends that are shaping the U.S. and the world
• Men Face More Sexism And Discrimination Than Women
• Centre On Dynamics of Ethnicity: The effects of racism at work
• Examples of Discrimination in Workplace | UpCounsel 2019
• 4 Signs That Racism May Be An Issue In Your Workplace
• HR Guide for Maternity Leave Laws -- With FREE Sample Leave Policy
• Top 6 Ways Managers Will Land Your Company in a Lawsuit
• How to Fire an Employee the Legal Way: 6 Termination Guidelines
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