Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California agreed to a settlement regarding allegations of racial workplace discrimination against its African American employees. They arrived at a settlement after two years of mediation with more than 2,000 employees working in consulting services and administrative support.
Kaiser Permanente has announced that it will pay $11.5 million in monetary payments and around $9 million in form of programmatic relief. They have agreed to introduce comprehensive workplace programs ensuring that the compensation and opportunities available for African American employees’ are fair and equitable.
Kaiser has also agreed to retain an independent consultant who would be responsible for developing and managing an exhaustive job-analysis review within one year. The hospital will also appoint an independent consultant who will conduct pay analysis for certain job classifications annually.
The organization promised to undertake some structural changes that include investing in leadership-development initiatives for historically underrepresented groups; added training for all the employees and management focusing on racial bias and equity.
Khashan Law applauds this settlement and is happy that the African American employees have won their battle against discrimination and earned rightful compensation. If you have witnessed or experienced instances of workplace discrimination in your organization or place where you work, you can contact us without any hesitation.
We understand that any form of workplace discrimination is traumatic and hurtful for the employees.
What do you mean by Workplace Discrimination?
When an employer treats one person or group differently from others who are similarly placed in the organization is known as Workplace discrimination. Workplace discrimination occurs when an employer based on certain prejudices treats some employees unfavorably because of their gender, sexuality, race, religion, age or disability.
The employer uses the above factors to discriminate against the employees while deciding on important things like promotions, performance reviews, demotions, terminations etc.
Discrimination at the workplace occurs in different ways. Sometimes, it is done to deliberately harass an employee by targeting them with continuous racist or sexist remarks or cracking untimely jokes about their race or gender.
In some cases, the discrimination is not obvious but made in the form of penalizing an employee or giving them undesirable performance reviews or overlooking an employee for a promotion because of their race, religion, sex etc.
As per the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal and California state laws regarding employment and labor, any kind of workplace discrimination is forbidden in any organization.
California’s Law against Discrimination
California has one of the most comprehensive laws that protect all classes of individuals from any form of employment discrimination. The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects employees in California from discrimination at work based on factors, including race, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, and age (age above 40 of employee).
FEHA’s guidelines are applicable to employers with five or more employees. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is responsible for enforcing the FEHA guidelines. Employees who are victims of discrimination can file complaints with DFEH.
Filing a discrimination claim is not a simple process. One is required to follow stringent filing deadlines and strict documentation procedures. If you have encountered discrimination at work, get in touch with an experienced workplace discrimination lawyer before filing your claim.
We at Khashan Law are a team of experienced workplace discrimination lawyers who have represented hundreds of plaintiffs and taken up organizations for supporting discrimination based on race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy etc. Contact us at (951) 461-2387 for a free, confidential consultation.