b'Can retaliation play a part: Title VII protects employees whoWhat was that you said: Borat accepted a position at Phonetics,engageinprotectedactivitiessuchassupportinganotherInc. Within the first week, however, problems arose. Borat, aemployeesclaimofdiscrimination,resistinginstructiontorecent immigrant from Kazakhstan, has a very, very thick accent,discriminate, and filing a complaint about discrimination withand it is hard for employees and customers to understand him. Histhe employer or Equal Employment Opportunity Commissionco-workers begin to ridicule him and the company lets him go.(EEOC).EmployerscannotnegativelyimpactasignificantNationaloriginclaim?Maybe.IfBoratcomplainedofaspect of employment for an employee who supports anothersthe harassing ridicule, he may have a claim. If Phonetics, Inc.national origin or their complaint of discrimination. Employerstruly terminated Borat because no one can understand him, andalso cannot retaliate against an employee for complaining ofit significantly impedes business with no way to adjust or fix it,discrimination or making a charge of discrimination with thethere may be no claim on the termination.EEOC.Illegal failure to hire: Mike, an undocumented citizen of anotherWhataboutharassment:Evenifanemployerdoesnot country, applies for a job with Tourism Unlimited. He is qualifieddiscriminate against an employee directly, the employer may for the position but is not hired because he is an undocumentedbeliableifitsemployeesharassanemployeeabouthisor worker illegally in the U.S. Does he have a claim? Generally,hernationalorigin,citizenshiporimmigrationstatus.The undocumentedworkerswhoarenothiredbecauseoftheirharassment must be significant enough to interfere with the undocumentedstatushavenoclaimsinceitisillegalforemployees working conditions or ability to handle his or her job, businesses to hire them in the first place.but little harassing actions can add up to enough harassment to What Should I Do:support a claim. An employer has a responsibility to be awareof what is going on with its employees and discipline employees Good:Countupyourworkerseveryfewmonthstoknowfor harassing conduct. whether the law applies to you. Institute an anti-discriminationpolicy including national origin, citizenship or immigration statusCommon Situations: discrimination.OnlyEnglishspokenhere:USAConstructioninstitutesapolicythatallemployeesmustspeakEnglishonly,atall Better: In addition to developing a policy, control who is permittedtimes. Is there a problem? Maybe. English-only policies are tointerviewandmakematerialdecisionsaboutemployeessubject to very strict scrutiny and are presumed invalid by the to be sure they are aware of the concerns of these types ofEEOC.Employersarebetteroffmakingrequirementsthat discrimination.employees be capable of speaking English so that all staff cancommunicate in one language, but even these policies must be Best: In addition to the items above, create job descriptions formade for a demonstrable business reason. Advise employees each position. Use the job descriptions to prepare advertisementsof the requirement and explain the consequence of breaching for positions, to ask objective interview questions, and to createthis policy to all employees. a uniform and objective performance review system to avoidaccidentally discriminating against a person based on nationalorigin, citizenship or immigration status.60'