Why this Texas Woman is Accusing Kroger of Racism in the Workplace By Dan Atkerson on September 19, 2016

A Texas woman is suing Kroger on the accusation of racism in the workplace. The African American woman began working for Kroger back in 2000. She claims the company applied a stifling amount of scrutiny to her performance, and forced her to take a much larger workload than any of her Caucasian colleagues. Much of her enormous workload was entirely outside of her job description. She is accusing the company of giving her these unrealistic assignments because of her skin color. She believes they were consciously trying to get her to quit.

Overtime, this unfair treatment caused the employee mental stress and a serious reduction in her fair employment benefits. The case alleges that all of this pain put the plaintiff into a situation where she had no choice but to resign from her position. She could not handle the continual stress from her workload and poor treatment.

How Texas Law Handles Racism in the Workplace

If this woman’s accusations are true, Kroger was in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and Texas labor code. It is illegal for companies to treat employees differently on the basis of race, national identity or even the employer’s perception of an employee’s race or ethnicity. The following are all common examples of racism in the workplace.

Firing an employee for racial reason
Giving different job assignments based on race
Providing different benefits or training for racial reasons
Providing any different employment conditions based on race or national origin

This woman was entitled to have the same hours and employment conditions as her peers. If her story sounds familiar to you, you should seek the counsel of an attorney. Everyone deserves the right to chase their career dreams. The only factor that should affect our progress in our careers should be our hard work and performance.

Dan A. Atkerson is a Dallas employment attorney who fights for victims of workplace discrimination and other forms of employment injustice.