Employers Could Pay Dearly for Allowing Discrimination Against Arab-American Workers
By Michelle Logsdon - December 12, 2001The terrorist attacks may have taken place more than 3,000 miles away from California but the human collateral damages resulting from Sept. 11 are mushrooming all over the country in the form of Arab-American discrimination.
Civil rights groups are reporting hundreds of cases of workplace discrimination. The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in Washington D.C. has received well over 200 complaints since 9/11.
Some people are being fired because they are Middle-Eastern, others are being physically or mentally harassed by co-workers.
For example, two days after the attacks, Sallam Chahdi, an Arab-American teacher at a Christian academy in Philadelphia, was asked to leave the school. The principal told him the reason for his dismissal was "…because you’re Arab."
One woman, who worked as a nurse in Wilmington, NC, converted to Islam and chose to wear an hijab (a scarf that covers the head, neck and throat) to work. One doctor told her, "You’re being offensive to me and to my clients."
ADC Legal Advisor Carol Khawly told adjustercom.com that hate crimes and discrimination against people who look Middle-Eastern were expected after the terrorist attacks, "People are angry and scared." Khawly did not excuse the behavior but said the Arab-American community is targeted every time Palestinian or other Middle-Eastern issues arise. "Our community is very much affected by American foreign policy."
Double Edged Claims
Workplace discrimination exposes employers to potential liabilities in a couple of ways. First, for promoting a hostile work environment, and second for physical or psychiatric injuries an employee may suffer while being harassed at work.
Physical injury claims are mostly cut-and-dry but psychiatric stress claims come under intense scrutiny in California. In 1993, California tightened its workers’ compensation rules, especially in the area of psychiatric injury claims.
Before the changes an employee only had to prove that 10 percent of his psychiatric stress was related to employment. That percentage was raised to 50. Also before the changes the number of post-termination cases was continually increasing. Now, Richard Stephens, spokesman for the California Division of Workers’ Compensation, told adjustercom.com, an employee cannot claim psychiatric stress because he was fired and post-termination claims are rarely accepted.
According to the California Division of Labor Statistics & Research, in 1999 the private industry reported approximately 2,700 claims for "anxiety, stress and neurotic disorders." Claims for "neurotic reaction to stress" tallied approximately 2,400. State and local government claims for both categories totaled just over 2,300. Numbers for the year 2000 are not yet available.
Whether a workplace discrimination claim falls under the "exclusive remedy" rule or if it is deemed a liability matter, is for a judge to decide. In either case, employers can get pinched if they do not deal with a hostile work environment immediately.
Employee Recourse
Since the attacks, officials have been pleading with the public for rationality and intelligence. Just days after the tragedies, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Cari Dominguez addressed American employers, "We should not allow our anger at the terrorists responsible for this week's heinous attacks to be misdirected against innocent individuals because of their religion, ethnicity, or country of origin. In the midst of this tragedy, employers should take time to be alert to instances of harassment or intimidation against Arab-American and Muslim employees."
But some of those requests fell on deaf ears. Omar Abu Jassar, an engineering technician, filed a complaint with the EEOC stating that he was harassed at work and then given a negative review despite the fact his previous reviews, one week earlier, were excellent. Jassar was the only employee asked to keep a log of his hourly activities. He was later fired allegedly because of budgetary concerns.
And the discrimination is not only directed at Arab-Americans. Those who defend them may put themselves in harm’s way as well. Page Nelson, an Oakland, CA school teacher, worked for the same school for 13 years and was recently terminated allegedly for standing up for a Saudi Arabian student who was being harassed.
An employee who feels he has been discriminated against has several avenues of recourse. He can file a complaint with the EEOC under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act prohibits employers from discriminating against an employee for race, color, sex, religion, ethnicity and retaliation.
Individuals can file complaints with the EEOC by phone, mail, or in person at the nearest EEOC office. California has offices located in: Los Angeles, Fresno, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose.
Normally, an individual has 180 days to file a complaint but in states with a fair employment practices agency (The State of California Department of Fair Employment and Housing) the deadline extends to 300 days.
Individuals can also report discrimination in the workplace to the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Normally investigations and settlements are completed within 210 days.
"Employees need to educate themselves about their rights in the workplace," said Khawly. "Many of them are afraid to complain. They say to themselves, ‘I’ll accept the harassment.’ ‘I’ll accept getting fired.’ They don’t know about Title VII and that it protects against retaliation."
According to Paul Igasaki, vice chair for the EEOC in Washington D.C., some workers may be afraid to file complaints because they do not trust the government right now. Their fears are fueled by the Justice Department’s plan to interview 5,000 men from Middle Eastern countries who are in the US on student, tourist or work visas.
Trapped
One Arab-American construction worker in Maryland (he asked to remain anonymous) told adjustercom.com he doesn’t know whom to trust anymore. The employee is taking medication for anxiety because of the harassment he is receiving at work. He said his co-workers made homosexual advances toward him and one co-worker threatened him with a pipe. He told his supervisor about the pipe incident, "I went to him right afterward—I was shaking and close to vomiting. When I told him he said, ‘Well, don’t you think they have a right to be angry?’"
ADC is working closely with the EEOC, the federal agency that enforces discrimination laws, to field each case as quickly and fairly as possible. The employees of both organizations told adjustercom.com they have their hands full with these types of cases right now.
The construction worker told investigators from his company about the harassment and they filed a report but he has not received a copy of it yet. He said he has not filed a claim with the EEOC because he is afraid of getting fired. "I have a family to support. If I lose my job, unfortunately with my [Middle Eastern] name it would be tough for me to get another job."
According to this worker the most difficult thing to accept is that these are men he has worked with for a long time. He has lived in America for more than 20 years and worked at the same company for 11 years. "I was as shocked and saddened as every other American on Sept. 11. Now every time I get harassed the tragedy of Sept. 11 is relived for me."
The Good News
Despite the negative stories about discrimination and hate crimes toward Arab-Americans, some employers have accepted the call for tolerance in this difficult time.
Sripriya Ganesh, a computer programmer in Moorpark, CA, told adjustercom.com she has not experienced any discrimination in the workplace, nor have her husband or her friends. Ganesh moved to America two years ago from Chennai, India. Ganesh usually wears punjabi suits (a silk pantsuit with a long dress-style cover and a scarf around the shoulders) to work. "I don’t notice people noticing me. My friends advised me not to wear Middle Eastern clothing but I still do."
Ganesh said the attacks on Middle Eastern looking people are a natural response to the terrorism and the war. She even understands the need to do background checks on Arab-Americans but she said they should be done in a humane and non-humiliating way. Overall, Ganesh said Americans can protect themselves without hurting innocent people in the process. "I want people to be more careful of suspicious looking people but do it in an intelligent way. Realize people can have certain political views and not be against this country."
At Ford Motor Company several hundred workers attended a Nov. 15 seminar called "An Islamic Perspective on the events of Sept. 11." The company is located in Dearborn, MI, a city with the largest concentrated Arab-American community in the country. Mike Louzon, an engineer said, "I like to see my co-workers understand what Islam is about. We need a lot more time to help people understand all of this."
One group does understand—and they are reaching out to Arab-Americans in their time of need. A group of Japanese-Americans called "Nosei" organized a gathering in Santa Clara, CA to promote awareness of "wartime hysteria." The group wants to encourage Americans to refrain from discriminating against the Muslim community like they did against the Japanese-American community following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The event was held on Dec. 7, the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. After the invasion Japanese-Americans were labeled security risks, and about 120,000 of them were taken from their homes and placed into internment camps. Lisa Nakamura, an organizer of Nosei said, "There are very few people who stood together to build alliances with the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. And right now, we have the luxury of not being the targeted group. So we have an obligation to stand up for others now being targeted. This should never happen again."
Waiting For the War to End
Most people interviewed for this story agree that these problems will continue until the war is over. "The most determinative question will be what happens in the future," ADC Communications Director Hussein Ibish told adjustercom.com. "If there are more attacks by Middle Easterners then hate crimes will increase again and it could be a very serious situation."
Ibish and Khawly said communication and education are the keys to handling the problems now and in the future. They also said employees and employers need to reach out for help when necessary. "We can help employers with training and mediation," said Ibish. "Also in an egregious workplace situation we will help an employee sue."
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