Some harassment or discrimination cases revolve around overt and obvious instances where an employee’s rights have been violated. If an employer refuses to hire someone based on their race or gender, or fires all employees within that protected class, it could be clear that those employees are facing discrimination.
But in other situations, microaggressions can come into play. These are typically more subtle, and they may be based on everyday interactions. They are often comments, jokes or other actions that, while perhaps not as overt as the examples given above, can still contribute to harassment, discrimination and a hostile work environment.
Identifying microaggressions
In many cases, microaggressions are thinly veiled insults, but they may be disguised as compliments or simply neutral statements. The offending party may later argue that they did not mean to do anything wrong, or that their comment was taken the wrong way.
For instance, say that a supervisor says that a female employee has done a great job as a manager, and he is surprised that she has done so well as a woman. Even though this is framed as a compliment, it is reinforcing a stereotype that women should not be in leadership roles.
A similar example is if a coworker says that a person from a different racial background speaks surprisingly good English or has an impressive level of education. They are simply reinforcing stereotypes that people from that racial or ethnic background will be less educated or will not be able to speak the language.
Navigating a complex case
These types of microaggressions can certainly be evidence of workplace harassment or discrimination. Employees who are going through such a case must know exactly what legal steps to take to protect their rights.