AT&T President Fired, Employees Claim Pervasive Racial Discrimination
This is not the first time we’ve blogged about discriminatory practices at AT&T, but this one is certainly more high profile. Recently, AT&T president of content and advertising sales Aaron Slator was terminated after an African-American employee found racially offensive images on Slator’s work phone. The employee, an assistant who was asked to migrate Slator’s data to a new phone when she discovered the images, claims that the images were part of a campaign of racial discrimination within the company.
According to the employee’s attorney, the issue had been brought to the attention of AT&T’s board of directors and human resources department before, but was ignored. Instead, AT&T covered it up at the expense of African-American employees.
The lawsuit also alleges that the employee was passed over for promotions, received smaller raises and suffered mistreatment because of her race. She had worked at AT&T for 30 years.
What Forms Can Workplace Discrimination Take?
Racial discrimination is unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Racial discrimination can take many forms, including:- Segregation from other employees based on race
- Being forbidden from work events based on race
- Having promotions or raises withheld or reduced due to race
- Flagrant or casual use of racial epitaphs, ethnic slurs and derogatory speech.
Atkerson Law – Dallas Employment Law Attorney