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Survey: experiencing discrimination common in the U.S.

On Behalf of | Mar 14, 2016 | Workplace Discrimination |

Being subjected to discrimination, in any environment, can be a harmful experience in many ways. For one, it could make a person more stressed. Researchers have indicated that discrimination, and even the anticipation of it, could lead to a person experiencing increased stress, which in turn could contribute to health difficulties.

Given the negative impacts discrimination has, one would hope discrimination would be exceptionally rare. However, a recent survey indicates that reality is currently far away from this hope here in the United States. The survey’s results point to facing discrimination being a very common experience for people in America.

Over 3,300 individuals were surveyed in this poll. Of these respondents, 61 said that they experienced daily discrimination and nearly half reported having been subjected to major discrimination.

What do you think would help cut down on discrimination in America?

There are many different environments where discrimination can show up. One is the workplace. For example, sometimes, instances happen in which an employee is denied a certain employment benefit for discriminatory reasons. As we alluded to above, when this happens, the harm the employee experiences is not just limited to being denied the benefit, but can expand out to other things such as stress and health problems.

An important thing to know is that individuals who have been subjected to discrimination at work may have legal measures they can take in response. Certain forms of discrimination (such as racial, gender, age, disability, pregnancy and national origin discrimination) are prohibited in the workplace under state and federal laws. Experienced employment lawyers can help workers who have been discriminated against understand if the conduct committed against them fell into one of the categories of prohibited workplace discrimination, and thus could be grounds for legal action.

Source: HealthDay, “Two-Thirds of Americans Report Daily Discrimination in Poll,” Robert Preidt, March 10, 2016

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