- Oxford Library of Psychology
- The Oxford Handbook of Workplace Discrimination
- About the Editors
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Subtle Discrimination in the Workplace: Individual-Level Factors and Processes
- Group-Based Experiences of Discrimination: Moving Beyond Cognitive Theories
- Organizations, Employment Discrimination, and Inequality
- Employment Discrimination as Unethical Behavior
- Gender Discrimination in the Workplace
- Racial Discrimination in Organizations
- Persons With (dis)Abilities
- Age Discrimination at Work: A Review of the Research and Recommendations for the Future
- Religious Group Discrimination
- Immigrants in the Workplace: Stereotyping and Discrimination
- LGBT Workers
- Family Responsibilities and Career Outcomes: Discriminatory and Nondiscriminatory Explanations
- Modern Discrimination
- Discrimination in Employment Settings
- A Primer on Equal Employment Opportunity Law and Contemporary Enforcement
- Legal Consciousness, Mobilization, and Discrimination Disputes at Work
- International Perspective
- Measuring and Defining Discrimination
- Individual Outcomes of Discrimination in Workplaces
- Impact on Perpetrators
- Impact on Organizations
- A Stigma Lens for Considering What Targets Can Do
- What Can Allies Do?
- Organizational Remedies for Discrimination
- How Much Has America Changed in 50 Years?: An Organizational Psychologist’s Take on Social Justice Progress Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Can Scholarly Works on Discrimination Make a Practical Difference?
- Moving Forward from Inequality and Discrimination: Historical Global Perspectives
- Looking Forward: What Lies Ahead in Employment Discrimination Research?
- In Conclusion: Workplace Discrimination in Context
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
Engaging theories of legal consciousness, rights mobilization, and workplace conflict, we detail the factors that lead workers to mobilize their rights under US antidiscrimination laws and the obstacles that they face. Drawing on quantitative data from defendants in discrimination lawsuits as well as qualitative data from interviews with plaintiffs in discrimination cases, we examine how workers perceive the law, the meaning of discrimination, and their legal rights; what motivates workers to seek legal redress despite the seemingly insurmountable odds they face; and how workplace conditions affect workers’ willingness to use the law to solve workplace disputes. Analysis suggests that workers pursue litigation as a last resort, after multiple experiences of bias, with the hope of seeking formal validation of their experience and, ultimately, social change. Workforce composition, corporate culture, and access to workplace information are important contextual factors for the emergence of legal claims.
Keywords: employment, discrimination, legal consciousness, rights mobilization, workplace conflict
C. Elizabeth Hirsh Department of Sociology The University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada
Patricia Louie University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada
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- Oxford Library of Psychology
- The Oxford Handbook of Workplace Discrimination
- About the Editors
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Subtle Discrimination in the Workplace: Individual-Level Factors and Processes
- Group-Based Experiences of Discrimination: Moving Beyond Cognitive Theories
- Organizations, Employment Discrimination, and Inequality
- Employment Discrimination as Unethical Behavior
- Gender Discrimination in the Workplace
- Racial Discrimination in Organizations
- Persons With (dis)Abilities
- Age Discrimination at Work: A Review of the Research and Recommendations for the Future
- Religious Group Discrimination
- Immigrants in the Workplace: Stereotyping and Discrimination
- LGBT Workers
- Family Responsibilities and Career Outcomes: Discriminatory and Nondiscriminatory Explanations
- Modern Discrimination
- Discrimination in Employment Settings
- A Primer on Equal Employment Opportunity Law and Contemporary Enforcement
- Legal Consciousness, Mobilization, and Discrimination Disputes at Work
- International Perspective
- Measuring and Defining Discrimination
- Individual Outcomes of Discrimination in Workplaces
- Impact on Perpetrators
- Impact on Organizations
- A Stigma Lens for Considering What Targets Can Do
- What Can Allies Do?
- Organizational Remedies for Discrimination
- How Much Has America Changed in 50 Years?: An Organizational Psychologist’s Take on Social Justice Progress Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Can Scholarly Works on Discrimination Make a Practical Difference?
- Moving Forward from Inequality and Discrimination: Historical Global Perspectives
- Looking Forward: What Lies Ahead in Employment Discrimination Research?
- In Conclusion: Workplace Discrimination in Context
- Index
