National Origin Discrimination

Full Video Transcript

Federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin. That means that no matter where a person is from, he or she cannot be discriminated against because of his or her nationality. This applies to all nationalities, including those that are most often a subject of national origin discrimination: Arabs, Mexicans, and Africans. Title Seven of the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal to discriminate against an employee or job applicant on the basis of nationality. That includes all employment decisions such as hiring, promotions, layoffs, firing, and recruitment. It also prohibits harassment. Some of the more complicated origin discrimination issues involve language issues. Employers may not base employment decisions on a person’s accent unless the accent interferes with the job performance. Likewise, a requirement that an employee be fluent in English is only permissible if fluency is required for effective performance of the job. English-only rules may be adopted, however, if they are done for a legitimate business purpose and not only for discriminatory reasons. The prohibition on national origin discrimination applies to everyone in the United States, not just U.S. citizens.