Hostile Environments

In the recent case of Mustafa Rehmani v. Ericsson, Inc., the court introduced the facts as follows:

“Petitioner Rehmani, a Muslim born in Pakistan, worked as a System Test Engineer for Ericsson from February 2007, when Ericsson acquired Rehmani’s prior employer, to November 13, 2009, the day he was terminated. During his tenure at Ericsson he had coworkers from at least 12 different countries, including India, China, and Pakistan. Three of those coworkers — Amit Patel, Aneel Choppa, and Ashit Ghevaria — originally were, along with Ericsson, the objects of the underlying lawsuit in this case.” As the case then explains Rehmani claimed the Indian dudes pretty much treated the Pakistanis, Chinese and other non-Indians as second class citizens. From there the facts are like any other “traditional” discrimination case. I recently reported on a case filed the EEOC against an oil refinery because they hired Hispanics over both African Americans and Whites.

Here’s my point: Discrimination is no longer by the black and white thing. It’s growing as a nationality thing. Many immigrants have different cultural views related to the subject and may have long standing rivalries brought to our shores. The solution: Know your legal obligations, be clear about what you won’t tolerate and realize all of us could use a bit of training!