Articles Posted in Citizenship

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Chicago Discrimination Cases Based On Citizenship

by Peter M. LaSorsa

There are some real nuances in the Illinois Human Rights Act (“Act“) regarding citizenship, national origin and ancestry. For example if you are Hispanic and believe you are the victm of discrimination in Illinois you can’t file under racial discrimination. The reason for this is under the Act, race is only white, black or Asian. The Act only recognized three different races. So if you believe you are being discriminated against you would have to proceed under a different category.

There are not many differences under the other categories I listed in the first paragraph. How you would proceed would depend on the facts of your case. For example if the employer is asking if you are a citizen because he think you are Mexican and perhaps here illegally, then you would proceed under citizenship. If there are no inquires about your status but rather there are rude comments about you being Mexican or about your home country, then you can proceed under the other categories. There are very strict time limits for filing a complaint so seek out an experienced employment lawyer and protect your employment rights.

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by Peter M. LaSorsa

Integrated Broadband Services pays $60,000 to settle a national origin discrimination and racial discrimination lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC“) on behalf of a black female Tanzanian network analyst who was fired for leaving work 30 minutes early. To show discrimination the EEOC pointed out that a similarly situated white network analyst received only written discipline after leaving work two hours early and the white worker did it twice in one week.

Many times national origin discrimination can also include discrimination based on ancestry or citizenship status. Both of those categories go unreported many times but they are viable forms of discrimination. Along with the settlement amount the company agreed to terms that include additional training on discrimination and posting anti-discrimination notices.

“The EEOC filed this lawsuit because the difference in treatment between these employees was clear, and a woman lost her livelihood due to this discrimination,” said EEOC attorney Robert Dawkins