Discrimination against Asians is new face of racism in the workplace

Racial discrimination in the workplace against Asian Americans is rising

Statistics just released point to a good place to focus anti-discrimination training: sensitizing workers to bias against Asian-Americans.

According to a Gallup poll on discrimination in today’s workplace, Asians may represent a ticking time bomb of potential racial bias complaints.

Much bias, few complaints

In the year through September 2005, just 3% of workplace racial discrimination complaints filed with the EEOC were brought by Asians. But the Gallup poll showed that fully 31% of Asians surveyed had experienced racial discrimination.

The point is obvious: If Asians get into the swing of filing discrimination complaints, they apparently have plenty of grounds.

By contrast, 82.5% of EEOC charges were brought by African-Americans, even though just 26% of African-Americans responding to Gallup said they were subjected to unfair treatment.

The main law against race bias at work, Title VII, was passed in the civil rights era, and generations of African-Americans have learned of their rights under it. As Asians and Asian-Americans grow more numerous in the workplace, and more aware of their rights, they may grow more litigious, too.

Source: The Gallup Organization