We analyze dismissals due to racial discrimination

Anna Amatllé, associate lawyer of the Labor Department of Lener, analyzes in Cinco Días the regulation when racially discriminatory treatment occurs in the workplace.

In the event of such treatment at work, it is advisable for the employee to file a complaint through the channels provided by the company, which the company is obliged to have active by law. If the employee does not denounce through this channel, he/she will have a lesser burden of proof when defending his/her situation before the judge.

In this sense, if the offended worker provides sufficient evidence, it obliges the company to "prove what specific facts motivated the sanction against the employee, and that such facts are not linked to a discriminatory motive," Anna clarifies. 

One situation that can occur in a legal procedure of this type is that the company provides a justification that diffuses the suspicion of discrimination, but does not end up providing the conditions to have a reason to carry out the dismissal. In these cases, Anna points out that it can happen that "a judge rules out the nullity for discrimination, but declares the dismissal unjustified for lack of sufficient justification".

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