How to deal with racists in the workplace?

So I find myself in a bad spot at work. All of the workers around me are very racist, constantly talk about black people being the N word and Mexicans being the W word. It is very hard for me to stand this I am currently involved with a very loving wonderful man who happens to be black in the color of his skin.

Everyone else has accepted him into my life with open arms. He is the most caring individual you would ever want to meet. I feel like a heel at work knowing I just want to go off on these guys but I cant for fears of losing my job. The people that own and run the company are very racist themselves. I want so bad to find another job but nothing so far has panned out.

I know they comment about me constantly when leaving a room they know im involved with someone that is not white. They make me feel like im an alien from another planet. We are in the process of buying a house and I cant just up and quit without finding a job. I make decent money so does my fiancee' we are building our dream house. I dont want to lose all that i have worked so hard to achieve.

Suggestions are welcome Please join in and tell me of your experiences or advice.

Do you have a HR dept or anything you can report to?

I don't know what the situation where you are is, but in Ireland we have legislation that covers this sort of thing. Do you have an equality authority or similar that you can contact for advice?

Or a citizens advice centre?

Talk to somebody in HR, or your supervisor.  What they're doing might be considered a "hostile work environment" and either way, it is unacceptable.  Document incidents and report them.  Management won't typically fix a problem unless you make it clear that it's serious and ongoing.  Good luck!

I see three choices

1) Report them, to HR

2) Ignore them

3) Find a new department to work for 

whats more important? your house or a bunch of dumb *sses?

dont even think about saying squat. especially if the owners are racists. go look for another job and enjoy your house.

idealy i would say tie em all up in trees and set them on fire alive...
but that would be getting you into trouble.

people that are stupid enough to be racists dont deserve a thought. do they know your dude isnt white?

this reminds me of philidelphia when the old white guys were making fun of gay dudes. that scene made me feel so wierd.

im sorry you have to deal with that stress. think about the positive and move to a better job.

Race has protected status in the workplace.

If their comments are creating a hostile work environment for you, I would suggest you do this:

1. Document everything they do and say that makes you feel this way.  And I mean just document it.  Write down EXACTLY what was said, by whom, what time, where, who was present.

2. Once you have accumulated say a dozen incidents of this kind of behavior, make copies of the documentation.  Ask for a meeting with your immediate supervisor, his/her boss, and if the co. has an ombudsman, include that person too.

3. If you get a meeting, hand them copies of the incidents and say, "There are people in this company creating a hostile work environment for me because of their racial comments. I have documented some instances of what I'm talking about.  You, I'm sure, are aware that this kind of behavior in the workplace is illegal and puts you at risk if you tolerate it.  How do you intend to address this?"

4. If you don't get a meeting, write up a memo to all of the above people saying essentially the same thing that you would have told them.  Send the memo with the copies of the docs to them via U.S. mail.  You may want to send it certified if you are worried they will try to ignore you.

5. If they refuse to correct the situation, you can sue them.  Millions.  If your employer doesn't have a harrassment policy already, your lawsuit will help them come up with one.

Good luck!

I have to say that if the owner's are racist, then you might have a problem. 

I know it isn't easy, but you can't let it get to you.  I grew up with all sorts of crap (grew up in a inter-racial lesbian household and I was in the severe minority at school, I'm white btw) and I finally just learned to ignore it.  I fought and argued and tried to persaude people, but ultimately it just caused me a lot of grief.

You just have to think, "are these people my friends?  Do I really care what they think about me or my fiance?"

If you really can't stand it, then you will probably have to get a different job.

The impression that I got from your post was that this kind of behaviour was condoned by the people in charge. If that's the case, is there an external body you can talk to?

I like Nomo's idea too (I'm not motivated enough though).

If you take that route, maybe you could try recording them some how so you have audio proof that they are doing this.  And you could try and record your conversation with the higher ups just in case they try to pull something.

I know someone who in a similar situation received a multi-million dollar settlement from a public university when she was harrassed by coworkers because she was a lesbian, and that doesn't even have protected status.

She documented everything.  She saved notes they left for her to find - they were really dumb harrassers!

Your employer has insurance for these kinds of expenses... a lot of employers don't really take this kind of thing seriously until it hits them in the pocketbook... just sayin'

:D

Yuck, that is awful. Screw the owners, screw the job. Find a new one and then report the hell out of all of them.

i just wondered if they would say you created the lawsuit so you could buy a house?

lawyers....you know...its thier job to make reasonable doubt.

i would worry about that.
what about going to the employment office to have them find you a job? they might have something that you dont know about.

Jane, while it is something to think about, it's also important to figure out if they are saying these things because they know she has an interracial relationship. If they are making comments about that, then it is definitely relevent.

having had to sit thru waaaay too many sessions about this very issue

I can assure you, it does not matter if chix is white.

If anyone made jokes about Jews and it made you uncomfortable even though you weren't Jewish, it's still considered a hostile working environment and religion has protected status, the employer is vulnerable to a lawsuit.

Good to know, Nomo. Thanks for the info!

From the EEOC

If you're an employer, you should make sure ALL of your employees are aware of the law and document their awareness to prevent your company from being included in a suit because of one stupid employee's actions...

And I will stress from that...

"The victim does not have to be the person harassed, but can be anyone affected by the offensive conduct"

Ok first off, the comments are not directly directed at me if this makes sense, they say things as I leave the room and I can hear them commenting on the fact that yes I am white and my BF is black.

It's more than just comments on my BF it is all day long with the racist remarks I can't even tell you how many times they say racial slurs in one day's time.

I have no human resources to contact this is a one horse company, meaning its just the owner his right hand 'men' and then me and the other lower level employee's. So if i have a problem I basically must address it to the big boss.

Nomoeexcuses your information is really informative you have covered a lot of bases for me to think about and thank you so much for posting all of this. Thanks to everyone else with your input. I am not wanting to sue them I just want to work in a less racist environment I don't enjoy this and I never have even when I didn't have a black BF racism was not cool to me.

The part about them thinking if I was to sue it was to make money for my house makes sense but even if this was the case which certainly isnt. Why should I have to live like this while working, I work nearly 16 hours a day in this environment. It is taking its toll on me. I have been set up with employment agencies already many in fact nothing has come up per say but I will keep trying. I will leave this place as soon as something comes up.

thanks for the advice and knowledge

Whatever you do, don't sue.

Once you sue, no one will ever hire you again.