Workplace Discrimination Research Paper

Workplace discrimination has been a reoccurring issue throughout the existence of the United States. Discrimination in the work environment can be defined as less favorable treatment to one employee versus another, typically based on things such as; race, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation and mental disabilities. There are several regulations put into place, to stop discrimination however, laws do not control one’s actions and thought process. The goal of this research paper is to provide readers with the necessary information regarding workplace discrimination in the United States.

Racism is the belief that a person's race is what determines one's human capabilities, that one race is superior than other or that people should be treated

Whether the person is gay, bisexual or transgender, they can be fired, declined employment or denied a promotion just for being one of those variances. Although there is no Federal law, there are state laws that attempt to prevent this. 22 states have laws protecting, lesbeins, gays and bisexuals along with transgender people. Despite the issue being young, there is still progress being made, in 2002 just three percent of Fortune 500 companies had nondiscrimination protections that included gender identity, whereas today 82 percent of them include it. Along with transgenders, In 1996 only 4% of Fortune 500 companies had sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies, where now 92% of them do. “Controlled experiments have found consistent evidence of workplace discrimination as well. When researchers send two sets of matched resumes to major employers, and one indicates the applicant is gay, employers warmly receive “gay” resumes far less often than “straight” resumes. Seven out of eight of these studies confirmed the existence of antigay employment discrimination.”(Burns et al, 2017) With gays and transgenders experiencing large amounts of discrimination in the workplace, this poses an enormous threat on the economic security of these people. Another issue within this community would be the harassment they receive on the job site which causes some to leave their job. “Seven percent to 41 percent of gay and transgender workers were verbally or physically abused or had their workplace vandalized.”(Burns et al, 2011) With these high numbers, it would leave most to believe that in many cases not enough is being done to make these sort of harassment doings unacceptable in the workplaces. Gay and transgender individuals make up a large part of the American work force, and make