DoDEA

All people are protected on the basis of race or color, regardless of their race.

Persons of mixed racial backgrounds are protected from discrimination and do not need to prove their exact heritage to make out a Title VII claim.

It is possible that people will discriminate against persons of their own racial group or against persons perceived to be of a different skin color.

More about race/color discrimination.

Disparate Treatment

Show disfavor to one individual over another due to his or her race or color.

Disparate Impact

Use of facially neutral practices or criteria that disproportionately affected members of a particular protected group, and the practices or criteria could not be justified by business necessity (e.g., use of selection procedures such as written tests, oral examinations, and interviews).

Harassment

Hostile environment harassment includes unwelcome comments or conduct unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. An harasser can be the victim's supervisor, co-worker, or a non-employee. Ethnic slurs, racial "jokes," offensive or derogatory comments, or other verbal or physical conduct based on an individual's race/color constitutes unlawful harassment.

Prejudice

An aversion or dislike based upon a faulty and inflexible generalization or stereotype. It is an attitude or belief, while discrimination is action taken as a result of the attitude or belief. We all have prejudices. It's how we deal with them that can make a difference. One can be prejudice and not discriminate. Only when you act on the prejudice is it a problem.

Stay Out of Trouble:

• Guard against challenges to recruitment practices by using a variety of methods to reach a diverse pool of qualified applicants.
• Avoid nepotism. The preference of family members is another recruitment practice that may have an adverse impact on groups that differ from the racial group of the management official.
• In establishing objective selection criteria, a selecting official should take care to use criteria that are relevant, if not essential, to job performance and consistently applied.
• In establishing subjective criteria, the selecting officials should take care to limit, as much as possible, the discretion of individual decision-makers.
• Management has an affirmative duty to maintain a work environment free from race-based insult, intimidation, or ridicule.
• Have an anti-harassment policy.
• Conduct thorough and conscientious investigations in response to complaints of racial harassment (Call your EEO office immediately).