Employment discrimination on the basis of race still happens more often than anyone wants to believe: In 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received more than 35,000 charges of race discrimination. It exacts a very high price, both from its victims and from the companies where it occurs.
An employer commits race discrimination when it makes job decisions based on race or when it adopts seemingly neutral job policies that disproportionately affect members of a particular race. Race discrimination in private employment is prohibited by two federal laws: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The articles in this section cover both laws, as well as the process for bringing a race discrimination lawsuit and the remedies available to successful litigants.