If you can foresee a problem , you can prepare for or prevent it. Discrimination and retaliation are foreseeable because businesses know that discrimination and retaliation are prevalent in the United States. A Glassdoor survey reports that 61 percent, or about three in five U.S. employees have witnessed or experienced discrimination in the workplace.[1] The same survey reports that 42 percent of employed adults in the U.S. have experienced or witnessed racism in the workplace; the highest percentage of the four countries surveyed.[2]

A report noted by the EEOC states that 75 percent of employees who spoke out against workplace mistreatment faced some form of retaliation.[3] A report by Ethics & Compliance Initiative finds that when employees at all levels are held accountable, retaliation is not as prominent; however, the retaliation rate is only 16 percent when managers are held accountable compared to approximately 40 percent when managers are not held accountable.[4]

Foreseeability is important because the law is meant to be preventative. The federal anti-discrimination laws primary objectives are prophylactic, chiefly aimed not to provide redress but to avoid harm. Prevention is the best tool to eliminate harassment in the workplace. Employers must take appropriate steps to prevent and correct discrimination and retaliation, including unlawful harassment. Corporations may be liable for punitive damages who do not make good-faith efforts to prevent discrimination in the workplace to accomplish the objective of motivating employers to detect and deter discrimination violations.

Our country was founded on the belief that all of use are created equal and are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These rights are no less important in the workplace, including the following rights that we believe are essential:

  • the right to expect that corporations hire human resources (HR) representatives qualified to follow discrimination and retaliation law;
  • the right to expect that corporations will adequately train managers to follow discrimination and retaliation law;
  • the right to expect that corporations will supervise managers to follow discrimination and retaliation law;
  • the right to expect that corporations will prevent any form of discrimination or retaliate against persons who report discrimination; and
  • the right to expect that corporations must care about workplace laws to protect us from damages.

 Corporations know that discrimination and retaliation are foreseeable as potential problems in its work and business place. We do not have to tolerate violations of the law.

[1] https://about-content.glassdoor.com//app/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/Glassdoor-Diversity-Survey-Supplement-1.pdf
[2] Id.
[3]  https://www.eeoc.gov/select-task-force-study-harassment-workplace#_ftn65 (Citing Lilia M. Cortina & Vicki J. Magley, Raising Voice, Risking Retaliation: Events Following Interpersonal Mistreatment in the Workplace, 8:4 J. Occupational Health Psychol. 247, 255 (2003)).
[4] https://www.ethics.org/knowledge-center/increasing-employee-reporting-free-from-retaliation/