Abstract
Using detailed employment discrimination charge data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), this chapter provides unique information on the number of charges of color discrimination, the bases of the charges, the characteristics of individuals filing charges, and characteristics of the workplace. Claims of employment discrimination on the basis of color have been rising, from 1,424 in fiscal year (FY) 2000 to 3,063 in FY 2009. Although many color discrimination claims are combined with race discrimination charges, 16% of color charges do not also include race as a basis. Color discrimination charges are filed by individuals of all races. Among color charges that do not include race as a basis, 15% are reported by Whites and 17% are reported by Asians. Color claims disproportionately include national origin and religion as additional bases.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
An interesting side note is that in forecasting population trends the Census no longer assumes that the race of a child follows the race of the mother (US Census Bureau 2008).
- 3.
Although Walker lost this case on the merits, this case is widely cited as support for the legal validity of within-race colorism claims.
- 4.
The category “race basis – other” is now obsolete but was still in use in the period analyzed here.
- 5.
The data extract covers the period October 1, 1999–February 28, 2010. Any changes to the charge data after this time period will not be reflected in my statistical analysis.
- 6.
There are 18,429 individual charges including color discrimination in this period, but 118 records are duplicates in every way except that the race of the charging party is recorded differently in different records (e.g., Black and Asian). I count these claims only once and assign an indicator for more than one race reported.
- 7.
As noted earlier, I assign an indicator for more than one race for charges that are duplicates except for different races reported. The share of individuals recorded as more than one race is doubtlessly below the actual number of individuals who would report more than one race had that option been available. For comparison, 3% of the US population reported more than one race in the 2010 Census (US Census Bureau 2011). Also worth noting is that although the EEOC records allow for reporting of national origin including Hispanic, Hispanic ethnicity is not recorded in the charge records. National origin is frequently missing, so there is no reliable way to identify if color discrimination is related to Hispanic/Latino ethnicity.
- 8.
The calculations reported here are based on data for 2010 Q1, not seasonally adjusted.
- 9.
The calculations reported here are based on data for June 2010.
References
Banks, T. L. (2000). Colorism: A darker shade of pale. UCLA Law Review, 47(6), 1705–1746.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]. (2003). EEOC settles color harassment lawsuit with Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill. http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/8-07-03.cfm. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]. (2006). EEOC v. Jax Inn’s/Spindrifter Hotel, No. 3:04-cv-978-J-16-MMH (M.D. Fla. April 2006). http://archive.eeoc.gov/initiatives/e-race/caselist.html#_ftn3. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]. (2007). EEOC to launch E-RACE initiative at commission meeting Wednesday. http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/2-22-07.cfm. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]. (2010). Charge statistics FY 1997 through FY 2010. http://eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/charges.cfm. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]. (2011a). Enforcement and litigation statistics. http://eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/index.cfm. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]. (2011b). Facts about race/color discrimination. http://eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/fs-race.cfm. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
Glenn, E. N. (2009). Shades of difference: Why skin color matters. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Goldsmith, A. H., Hamilton, D., & Darity, W., Jr. (2006). Shades of discrimination: Skin tone and wages. American Economic Review, 96(2), 242–245.
Goldsmith, A. H., Hamilton, D., & Darity, W., Jr. (2007). From dark to light: Skin color and wages among African-Americans. Journal of Human Resources, 42(4), 701–738.
Hall, R. E. (ed.) (2008). Racism in the 21st century: An empirical analysis of skin color. New York: Springer.
Hersch, J. (2006). Skin tone effects among African Americans: Perceptions and reality. American Economic Review, 96(2), 251–255.
Hersch, J. (2008). Profiling the new immigrant worker: The effects of skin color and height. Journal of Labor Economics, 26(2), 345–386.
Hersch, J. (2011). The persistence of skin color discrimination for immigrants. Social Science Research, 40(5), 1337–1349.
Jones, T. (2000). Shades of brown: The law of skin color. Duke Law Journal, 49(6), 1487–1557.
Jones, T. (2010). Intra-group preferencing: Proving skin color and identity performance discrimination. New York University Review of Law and Social Change, 34(4), 657–707.
Nance, C. E. (2005). Colorable claims: The continuing significance of color under Title VII forty years after its passage. Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law, 26(2), 435–474.
US Census Bureau. (2008). National population projections methodology summary document. http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/methodstatement.html. Accessed 20 June 2012.
US Census Bureau. (2010). State & county quickfacts. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
US Census Bureau. (2011). 2010 census shows America’s diversity. For immediate release. http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn125.html. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
US Department of Labor. (2010a). Bureau of Labor Statistics. The distribution of employment by industry is reported in establishment data, Table B1. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
US Department of Labor. (2010b). Bureau of Labor Statistics. The distribution of private sector employment by firm size. http://www.bls.gov/bdm/table_f.txt. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
US Department of Labor. (2011). Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current population survey. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat3.pdf. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
Walker v. Secretary of Treasury of IRS, 713F. Supp. 403 (N.D. Ga. 1989) [Walker v. Secretary of Treasury of IRS, 742 Supp. 670 (N.D. Ga. 1990), aff’d 953F.2d 650 (11th Cir. 1992), cert. denied, 506 US 853 (1992), rehearing denied, 506 US 1072 (1993)].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hersch, J. (2013). Characteristics of Color Discrimination Charges Filed with the EEOC. In: Hall, R. (eds) The Melanin Millennium. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4608-4_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4608-4_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4607-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4608-4
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)