Fighting Back Against False Allegations That You Have Communication Issues

Many people we work with are unable to separate their race-based perceptions from reality. As a result, when some people work with Blacks, they may be preconditioned to miscontrue things said or done by a Black worker based on their own racial prejudices and stereotyping. For instance, a person with racial biases may be interacting with a Black worker, who asks several questions about the procedures being used on a project.

The Black worker may be labeled as being difficult to work with, very negative, hostile or may be accused of not being a team player simply because this person has a preconceived notion that Blacks are argumentative and confrontational. Instead of taking the questions as legitimate business and task-related questions, the Black worker may be looked at as being insubordinate, rude or "talking back." This is how race-based prejudices and biases can feed into problems in the workplace.

In the workplace, many Blacks hear about these race-based prejudices and stereotypes with the accusation that they have "communication issues."

Allowing someone to falsely characterize you as being angry, defensive, hostile, pissed off, distant/aloof, unable to take constructive criticism, etc. is a major problem. You could end up constantly trying to erase the negative and false perceptions created about you by those who have labeled you as having a problem communicating with staff. Being labeled as having communication issues will affect your performance evaluations, salary increase, and can significantly decrease your chance to advance within the company. Anytime you are falsely accused of having communication issues, you have to give serious thought about how to respond.

Here are some things you can do:

TIP#1: When it comes to so-called communication issues, try not to let the conversation become about your personality. Let it be known, right up front, that if your personality is to be discussed and dissected, you would expect that the personality of everyone involved (in whatever issue was raised) be discussed and dissected—person by person.

Why? Because, once the conversation goes down the path of discussing a Black person’s personality, it will likely become an all consuming, one-sided affair where the Black person will be expected to accept and acknowledge any list of faults being offered up by White coworkers and managers. If everyone’s personality isn’t being discussed, your personality should not be discussed. Communication is a two-way street. No individual should be held accountable for a conversation taking a perverse turn for the worse.

TIP #2: Check your company’s personnel manual to see what the guidelines are for handling work-based issues and personality-based issues. For instance, I had a former employer that explicitly stated that supervisors should stay away from making personality-based assessments of employees. Find out if there is similar language in your company’s personnel guidelines. Make sure that so-called personality issues, particularly fraudulent personality issues, do not creep into your performance evaluations and are not held against you in some other way.

TIP #3: Be careful approaching a person regarding racial stereotyping and labeling. I can guarantee that conversation will likely go quickly downhill--no matter how delicately you address the issue. All the person will hear is that you are calling them a racist. Even if they are, you have to be careful with a conversation like this. But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't have the conversation. However, before having any sort of conversation about such a sensitive issue, address the problem with your supervisor first to give them a heads up that this is an issue you have to deal with. Trust me, the person you speak to is probably going to run straight to your supervisor anyway. If it's a White woman, she may go to your supervisor crying and blubbering. All of that emotion will take the focus off of what has been happening and you will be in a defensive position about something other than what you intended to discuss. Before you speak to someone about race-based stereotyping, have as many examples as you can about how they are falsely labeling you based on racial perceptions and how they are making race-influenced assessments about your behavior, your speech, the motivation behind your actions, etc. If your supervisor says that you shouldn't discuss the issue with the person, you should contact Human Resources to try to get the matter resolved.

TIP #4: Document how this person has twisted your words and/or intentionally or untentionally misread the motivation of your actions. Document this person, if you know they have similar problems with other minorities. Find out everything you can about these other issues. Try to get statements from people, which will support your allegations that this person may have a problem working with Blacks and other so-called minorities. You can then address any issues with your supervisor. Remember, it’s important to show patterns of negative behavior from this individual. You have to prove that this person’s actions are negatively impacting your ability to do your job and/or your career (e.g., diminishing your promotion potential during performance review time, etc.)

Tip #5: Consider asking coworkers to shoot you an email regarding the quality of your work and your overall job performance/behavior. This should include comments about their working relationship with you. It's always a great weapon to have written statements that contradict someone's false claims about you.

Tangible Employment Actions

It’s time for a reminder about this common employment action:

Tangible Employment Actions

A tangible employment action is "a significant change in employment status." Characteristics of a tangible employment action are:

A tangible employment action is the means by which the supervisor brings the official power of the enterprise to bear on subordinates, as demonstrated by the following:

• it requires an official act of the enterprise;
• it usually is documented in official company records;
• it may be subject to review by higher level supervisors; and
• it often requires the formal approval of the enterprise and use of its internal processes.
• A tangible employment action usually inflicts direct economic harm.
• A tangible employment action, in most instances, can only be caused by a supervisor or other person acting with the authority of the company.

Unfulfilled threats are insufficient.

Examples of tangible employment actions include:

• hiring and firing;
• promotion and failure to promote;
• demotion;
• undesirable reassignment;
• a decision causing a significant change in benefits;
• compensation decisions; and
• work assignment.

Any employment action qualifies as "tangible" if it results in a significant change in employment status. For example, significantly changing an individual's duties in his or her existing job constitutes a tangible employment action regardless of whether the individual retains the same salary and benefits. Similarly, altering an individual's duties in a way that blocks his or her opportunity for promotion or salary increases also constitutes a tangible employment action.

On the other hand, an employment action does not reach the threshold of "tangible" if it results in only an insignificant change in the complainant's employment status. For example, altering an individual's job title does not qualify as a tangible employment action if there is no change in salary, benefits, duties, or prestige, and the only effect is a bruised ego. However, if there is a significant change in the status of the position because the new title is less prestigious and thereby effectively constitutes a demotion, a tangible employment action would be found.

Source: http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/harassment.html#IVC

Examples of Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation

When it comes to being targeted at work, there are many different ways to define what is happening in the office. Some people may argue that they are being subjected to a problem related to systemic discrimination on the job (e.g., Blacks have been historically denied promotions, almost without exception), some people may argue harassment (e.g., a hostile and offensive environment due to racial prejudice), and some people may argue retaliation (e.g., they made some sort of informal or formal complaint, which resulted in the complaining employee being targeted at work).

Each situation is different because people and workplaces are different. One racist coworker or a company promoting racism is going to be different from the next, even though there may be some similarities in the excuses used to deny or to marginalize or to justify the incidents in the workplace.

When it comes to explaining to someone the severity of what has happened, think of how you can categorize the incidences into discriminatory and/or harassing and/or retaliatory behavior. Based on the particulars in your workplace, you may argue one or all of these things. Here are some examples that can help you tweak the points you are making about your workplace environment: (This is somewhat subjective. Depending on your circumstances, these examples may be more appropriate falling into another category. For instance, harassing behavior on this list may be more appropriately referred to, in your circumstance, as retaliatory behavior if the behavior was only experienced following a complaint. Or, you may to decide to refer to it as harassing and retaliatory behavior, when describing the hostile work environment that resulted from complaining.)

Examples of situations that may indicate discrimination are:

· a company that doesn’t post job openings and routinely fills positions with Whites from both inside and outside the company--without African Americans and other minorities having first cracks at the job as an internal hire;

· unequal pay for African Americans performing the same work as Whites (with similar education and work experience);

· segregating African American employees to only work on African American projects and contracts;

· isolating and segregating African Americans by assigning them to work only in specific locations;

· reclassifying jobs at a lower level and assigning African Americans to perform the work;

· routinely denying African Americans promotions;

· laying off African American employees, while White counterparts maintain their jobs; and

· asking potential employees to identify their race on an employment application, which might indicate that race may be a factor in hiring decisions.

Examples of harassment/a hostile work environment might include:

· personal attacks based on stereotypes and racist assumptions;

· a supervisor that regularly screams directly into the face of subordinate, in private or in front of coworkers;

· physical threats of violence or actual physical abuse (e.g., shoving or bumping);

· verbal abuse/put-downs, name calling or the use of racial epithets or slang;

· job threats/intimidation;

· intentionally malicious and false gossip;

· stare down contests; or

· intentional humiliation.

Examples of retaliation (for complaining about race-based discrimination or misconduct or for participating in an investigation into discriminatory behavior, etc.) might include:

· stripping an employee of their staff;

· salary cuts;

· the denial of standard employee benefits (e.g., use of leave, etc.);

· a demotion;

· a transfer to a hard-to-reach office;

· stripping an employee of their workload/assignments; or

· an intentionally negative and malicious performance evaluation; or

· the denial of an anticipated promotion.

Try to be as specific as possible, when describing your situation. Write a narrative about your situation that could be understood by a child. Don't assume people will easily get your points. Spell out what you are trying to say by being very clear. Always write about the impact of actions taken against you--personally and professionally. And, always maintain a list of witnesses, who can support the allegations you are making. Write what they saw, when they saw it, and if they had any role in what was happening.

Discrimination Against Black, Female Caregivers

According to the EEOC, caregiving responsibilities disproportionately affect working women and their effects may be even more pronounced among some women of color, particularly African American women, who have a long history of working outside the home.

African American mothers with young children are more likely to be employed than other women raising young children, and both African American and Hispanic women are more likely to be raising children in a single-parent household than are White or Asian American women. Women of color also may devote more time to caring for extended family members, including both grandchildren and elderly relatives, than do their White counterparts.

Sure, discrimination against caregivers is a problem that can impact anyone in the workplace, male or female. But, it represents a particular issue for Black, female caregivers. In fact, caregiver discrimination against a Black worker (or Hispanic, etc.) might be compounded by other forms of discrimination such as race, color, gender, etc.

For instance, A Black, female worker, who is a single parent/caregiver may be discriminated against because of stereotypes about working mothers or single parents. AND, she may also be discriminated against because her supervisor has racist beliefs and/or stereotypes about Blacks and women.

Women of color also may be subjected to intersectional discrimination that is specifically directed toward women of a particular race or ethnicity, rather than toward all women, resulting, for example, in less favorable treatment of an African American working mother than her White counterpart.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination not just because of one protected trait (e.g., race), but also because of the intersection of two or more protected bases (e.g., race and sex). For example, Title VII prohibits discrimination against African American women even if the employer does not discriminate against White women or African American men. The law also prohibits individuals from being subjected to discrimination because of the intersection of their race and a trait covered by another EEO statute – e.g., race and disability, or race and age.

If you suspect that you are the victim of caregiver discrimination and/or intersectional discrimination (e.g., a Black, female caregiver), you should report your suspicions to someone in authority at your organization or to Human Resources. Or, you can file a complaint with an outside agency like EEOC or the Office of Human Rights or you can seek the counsel of an attorney.

Sources: http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/caregiving.html#discrwomen and http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/race-color.html#IVC