Transcript
[The Congressional Accountability Act: Prohibiting Discrimination in the Workplace]
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Monique: Discrimination in the workplace exacts a steep cost from those who suffer its mental, physical, and economic harm.
William: The Congressional Accountability Act requires that all personnel actions in the legislative branch of the federal government be made free from unlawful discrimination.
Christopher: So, unlawful discrimination includes taking unfair personnel actions on the basis of protected traits, such as an employee’s or applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, uniformed service, or genetic information.
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Khizer: My family moved here from India, but I grew up in Missouri. I played baseball and was in the Boy Scouts. I basically do public relations. I’ve gotten a bunch of awards for my work, and my performance evaluations have always been stellar. I was, um, usually working behind the scenes, writing and making phone calls.
When it happened the first time, I thought it was a fluke. A position opened up that would have put me in a more public role. It went to someone else. I kept working hard. Then it happened again. Twice.
I finally asked about it, and management basically said, “Listen, Khizer, you’re a great writer. You’ve got great ideas. But we need the face of the organization to look, you know, American.”
Monique: Khizer had the requisite experience, skills and performance evaluations to be considered for the position he was seeking. He was entitled by law to be considered based on those factors, and his employing office was prohibited from making its determination whether to select him based on discriminatory factors such as his race or national origin.
Rosario: The CAA also prohibits discrimination based on disability.
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Kerry: I have rheumatoid arthritis, a long-term autoimmune disease. It affects multiple joints in my body. And when I have a flare up, the pain makes it hard to do my work. My manager said she thought I was taking too many breaks. When I explained about my autoimmune disease, she shrugged and said that, “Everybody has to deal with having rough days.”
I offered to bring in a note from my doctor, but she wouldn’t listen. She told me if I couldn’t keep up without breaks, then she would demote me. She said she wanted results, not excuses.
Rosario: In Kerry’s case, her employing office’s actions may have violated the CAA’s prohibitions against discrimination based on disability. The CAA requires that all personnel actions such as hiring, discharge, promotion, pay, or benefits be free from discrimination based on disability.
Emmett: It also requires employing offices to provide reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified employee. In this case, demotion would almost certainly be considered an adverse employment action based on Kerry’s disability.
William: Age is also a prohibitive factor in taking personnel actions under the CAA, if an employee is age 40 or older. Too often, employers try to push people out of their jobs based on misperceptions and stereotypes related to age.
Jim: I’ve been doing this job for 30 years. And I know the tricks of the trade. We had some staff cuts, and I was always fixing other people’s mistakes. But I got the work done. Then I got a new supervisor, and he said that my vision and my age was starting to slow me down. In truth, I think I’m better than ever. I’m helping to get the new guys up to speed. But he is always on me with comments about my vision and my age, and then starting to threaten me with a demotion.
Monique: In Jim’s case, his supervisor was prohibited from basing any personnel action on his age. Constant comments devaluing an employee because of age can constitute unlawful, hostile work environment discrimination, if it is severe, or pervasive enough to interfere unreasonably with the employee’s work performance.
Karen: Jim had exemplary performance evaluations prior to this new supervisor. It certainly looked like there was an attempt to push Jim out of his position.
Narrator: The Congressional Accountability Act requires that all personnel actions be made free from discrimination. Personnel actions include decisions like hiring, firing, promotion, pay, and benefits. The law forbids discrimination based on protected traits, including race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The law also prohibits discrimination based on age, union activity, disability, military status, and genetic information.
The Office of Workplace Rights works to help ensure that the legislative branch is free of discrimination and harassment, safety and health hazards, accessibility barriers, and employment and labor violations. If you have questions or concerns about discrimination in the workplace, or any of your rights under the CAA, reach out to the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.
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