race discrimination lawyer

DOJ: Asian American Students Discriminated Against in Higher Ed

August 26, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

A high-profile federal lawsuit alleges Harvard discrimination against Asian Americans students may allow an opening for a conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court to strike down affirmative action. The legal strategist who filed the lawsuit on behalf of those students oversees a group that is expressly anti-affirmative action. On behalf of the students, he asserts the Ivy League schools discriminate against Asian American students by capping the number of admissions of these students (which may include those who are Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander).

Proponents of affirmative action policies say race-conscious admission and hiring is necessary for all students of color – including Asian Americans – in order to fight back against long-held inequality in higher education and the job market.

Plaintiffs are alleging that the so-called “model minority myth,” which holds Asian Americans to be overwhelmingly successful, both in academics and professionally, is harming them in this instance and beyond. They argue that Asian American students do have overall better academic performances, but are rejected for the purpose of racial balancing by the school in order to admit black, white and Latina/ Latino students who are less qualified. Furthermore, not all Asian Americans fit this “model minority” stereotype, which obscures the fact that there are very low graduation rates among some ethnic subgroups of Asian Americans, including those who identify as Vietnamese, Hmong, Bhutanese, Bangladeshi, Burmese, Filipino, Southeast Asians and Cambodian Americans. Meanwhile, Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean Americans enroll and graduate at much higher rates. Continue Reading ›

Federal Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Settled for $3.2 Million

August 22, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

A photo and electronics distributor headquartered in New York has agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle a federal employment discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Labor Department, alleging discrimination against warehouse staffers.

Through the settlement, some 1,300 workers – current, former and would-be – will be entitled to collect back wages and other benefits. The settlement comes after four years in court, after regulators began investigating numerous claims of employee discrimination on the basis of race and gender.

Specifically, as NBC-4 New York reports, the company was accused of discriminating against certain workers during hiring and promotions. Certain workers were also required to use segregated restrooms and were subject to harassment and racially offensive comments, which management reportedly ignored. Continue Reading ›

Racial Discrimination Alleged by Top Banking Executive

August 18, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

A top-level banking executive for Goldman Sachs is suing the company, as well as one of its managing directors, for what she says was racial discrimination and religious discrimination to prevent her from landing a major client.

The lawsuit, filed by the company’s vice president, who is both black and Jewish, alleges the managing director’s prejudices against her specifically blocked this deal, but that she also faced a myriad of discriminatory comments focused on her her skin color and her religion. Specifically, she says comments were made questioning “how Jewish” she is, given the fact that she is African American.

CNBC reports the company has denied the allegations, underscored its commitment to diversity and intends to vigorously fight the claim. Continue Reading ›

California Employment Lawsuit: White Men Paid More for Same Work at Tech Firm

January 16, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

A California technology company is facing down claims of racial discrimination against employees, who are the subject of a lawsuit alleging white men were given preference over minorities with similar qualifications.

USA Today reports the U.S. Department of Labor is suing Oracle America, a technology systems company that is accused of paying its white, male workers more than others and discriminating against non-white applicants in the course of its hiring and recruiting efforts. The DOL asserted the company is barred from engaging in discriminatory practices, especially because it receives hundreds of millions of dollars as a contractor for the federal government.

The company vehemently denies the allegations, arguing they are wholly without merit and motivated by politics. The firm is responsible for manufacturing much of the hardware and software utilized by federal government agencies. Continue Reading ›

Racial Discrimination at Work: Facebook Managers at Data Center Accused

December 26, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

A federal employment lawsuit filed in California alleges two African American workers faced racial discrimination at work while employed at a North Carolina data center for tech-giant Facebook. According to Fortune magazine, the two workers say the company’s leaders failed to immediately respond to repeated complaints of harassment.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and alleges the company allowed retaliation against the two employees who were reporting racial discrimination. One is a current employee and another still works at the data center.

Specifically, the two say a facility manger repeatedly used racial slurs to refer to black workers. They also assert they were paid less than white colleagues, and that these trespasses took place over the course of three years of employment. They are asking for damages in excess of $25,000, plus punitive damages, for each plaintiff. A spokesperson for the company alleges the claims are without merit. Interestingly, the company does not deny racial discrimination took place. Rather, the assertion is that the company responded appropriately. Continue Reading ›

Target Resolves Employment Discrimination Litigation with Large Settlement

August 22, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news story from Bring Me The News, big box retailer Target has just agreed to pay $2.8 million to settle a complaint by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It was alleged the screening process for job applicants the retailer used was discriminatory.

The money collected as part of the settlement agreement will be given to the roughly 3,000 candidates who were allegedly rejected for higher-level positions with the retailer. The reason these applicants were rejected, according to EEOC, is because the test instruments utilized in the screening process were allegedly discriminatory against African Americans, Asians and women. EEOC said several of these tests were not even job-related. More specifically, it was not that there was one thing in these tests you point to and say was discriminatory, but when the results are reviewed in the context of the gender, ethnicity and national origin of the applicants, it was clear to EEOC that there was a discriminatory impact. Continue Reading ›

Disney Accused of Racial Discrimination of Security Guards

August 6, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

In recent years, Disney World in Florida has been the subject of half a dozen similar lawsuits of discrimination on the basis of race, religion and national origin involving some of its 1,000 security workers.

So far, none of the cases has succeeded. A jury ruled against one plaintiff whose case went to trial, and three others were dismissed voluntarily by the plaintiff for either personal or financial reasons. But those who study employment law as well as those who practice it – both in Florida and here in California (home to Disneyland in Anaheim) recognize that six lawsuits over the course of three years – all by security guards and all for the same general reasons – alerts to a red flag of potentially a more serious problem. Continue Reading ›