Racial Discrimination Can Occur Anywhere
Author: NY discrimination lawyer Alena Shautsova
New York Universities are known for their liberal outlooks and welcoming attitudes toward diversity. The New York metropolitan area is one of the most international populations in the country, consisting of people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, races, and religions. For this reason, one would not expect New York University (NYU) to be named in a discrimination lawsuit that rendered significant settlement of $210,000.
According to a CNN report, an NYU library mailroom supervisor repeatedly subjected an African employee to derogatory racial comments, calling the worker a "monkey" and "gorilla" and making derisive remarks like asking whether the employee wanted a banana or telling him to go back to his cage.
NYU failed to effectively deal with the discrimination
The employee complained to the university, but the university took months to investigate the employee's complaint and took virtually no effective steps to correct the situation. Consequently, the employee presented the matter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the EEOC prosecuted the case.
Settlement details
The settlement reached compensated the employee for $210,000 in lost wages and emotional distress. The EEOC also ordered NYU to implement policies that would prevent a reoccurrence of such harassment, requiring EEOC training session for staff and maintenance of complaint record that the EEOC would periodically review. Termination of the abusive supervisor was not an issue because the supervisor had no longer been employed at NYU for a number of years by the time the case was handled.
For legal help with workplace harassment or racial discrimination, consult a skilled New York discrimination lawyer.