ABSTRACT
The antidiscrimination principle as applied to the workplace is critical to the pursuit of the American Dream. In the United States, the lack of equal opportunity and workplace discrimination affect where one lives, the quality of education one receives and whether one has access to affordable healthcare. Historically, the economic disadvantages and disparities experienced by nonwhites and women are directly linked to workplace discrimination. Disparate treatment involves employer practices motivated by discrimination that are directed at workers of a protected class. The employee has the burden of proving discrimination by direct or circumstantial evidence. In 1970, Charles Jackson, a black employee and L.N. McDonald and Raymond Laird, two white employees of Santa Fe Trail Transportation Company, were charged with theft. The company fired the two white employees but retained Jackson. Workplace discrimination extends to adverse, retaliatory actions from employers, such as firing, demoting or harassing employees who seek to vindicate their protected rights under federal antidiscrimination laws.
