The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) is Michigan law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, and other factors.

The law, MCL 37.2202, establishes:

An employer must not refuse to hire or recruit, fire, or otherwise discriminate against any person with respect to employment, compensation, or a term, condition, or privilege of employment, because of… race, color, [or] national origin.

Federal Law against Racial Discrimination – Title VII – Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects individuals against employment discrimination based on race or color, as well as national origin, sex, or religion. This law applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state, and local government agencies, employment agencies, and labor organizations.

An employer violates Title VII by discriminating against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of the person’s race or color, in hiring, termination, promotion, compensation, job training, or any other term, condition, or privilege of employment.

No employment decision can be based on stereotypes or assumptions about the abilities, traits or performance of members of a particular racial group. Title VII also prohibits intentional discrimination and neutral non-employment policies that disproportionately exclude minorities.

Additionally, an employer may not deny equal employment opportunity because of a person’s marriage to or association with a person of a different race; for being a member of, or association with, ethnic-based organizations or groups; or by attendance or participation in schools or places of worship generally associated with a certain minority group.

Breed-Related Characteristics and Conditions

Federal law prohibits discrimination based on a characteristic often associated with people of a particular race, such as skin color, hair texture, or facial features, even if not all members of that race have the same characteristic.

In most circumstances, an employer cannot discriminate based on a condition that generally affects a race. Therefore, most employers could not exclude all people with sickle cell disease (which preferentially affects African-Americans), or prevent workers from having beards (which could be a greater difficulty for African-American men than men). have a predisposition to pseudofolliculitis barbae (severe shaving bumps)). However, these kinds of employment rules would be legal if, and only if, the employer can show that the different treatment for people with the condition is job-related and essential to business operations.

Harassment

Harassment based on race, color, or national origin violates Title VII. Ethnic slurs, racial “jokes,” offensive or negative comments, pictures or graffiti, or other verbal or physical conduct in the workplace based on race or color constitutes unlawful harassment, if the conduct creates a intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment or interferes with an individual’s work performance.

Segregation and Classification of Employees

An employer violates Title VII by physically segregating or isolating workers of a particular race or color from other employees or customers. Also, employers cannot assign workers based on race or color. For example, Title VII prohibits the assignment of primarily African Americans to predominantly African American establishments or geographic areas.

It is also illegal to exclude members of a group from particular jobs, or to group or classify jobs or employees so that members of the protected group are generally placed in certain jobs. The practice of coding applications or resumes to designate an applicant’s race or color, whether by an employer or employment agency, is also evidence of unlawful discrimination.

Pre-employment consultations

Asking job applicants for information indicating race or color strongly suggests that an employer will use it as a basis for hiring. Therefore, if members of minority groups are excluded from employment, the request for this pre-employment information could be evidence of discrimination.

An employer may legitimately want information about the race or color of employees or job applicants to use for affirmative action purposes. In that situation, the employer can protect against misuse of the information with “tear-off sheets” identifying the applicant’s race. After the applicant completes the entire job application, the employer must remove the “tear-off” sheet and use the remainder of the application form in the hiring process.

Retaliation

Finally, it is illegal for anyone to retaliate against a person for opposing discriminatory employment practices, for filing a charge of discrimination, or for testifying or otherwise participating in a Title VII investigation, proceeding, or complaint.