Racial Harassment
Racial harassment is a form of racial discrimination and like sexual harassment, is actionable if the conduct is sufficiently severe or pervasive such that it creates a hostile environment altering the terms and conditions of employment. Employees who encounter harassment based on their race are subjected to derogatory conduct or comments about their race or color such as racial jokes, use of epithets or traditional symbols of racial hatred, which in their most severe form (which may also be pervasive) may be a hangman’s noose, swastikas or white hoods associated with the KKK or other racial hate groups. This conduct is illegal and actionable.