Racial Discrimination

If you believe you may have been discriminated against in employment due to your race, you may submit a discrimination complaint through the TWC Civil Rights Division. To learn more about the complaint process, see How to Submit an Employment Discrimination Complaint.

Texas Labor Code Chapter 21 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protect individuals against employment discrimination on the basis of race. An employer may not discriminate against any employee or applicant in hiring, termination, promotion, compensation, job training or any other term, condition or privilege of employment. The law applies to private employers with 15 or more employees, and to all state and local governmental entities no matter how many employees they have.

Employers may not legally base employment decisions on stereotypes and assumptions about abilities, traits or the performance of individuals of certain racial groups.

An employer cannot make employment decisions based on issues involving race such as:

• An applicant or employee’s race
• Marriage to or association with an individual of a different race
• Membership in or association with ethnic based organizations or groups
• Attendance or participation in schools or places of worship generally associated with certain minority groups

Employers may not legally do any of the following:

• Segregate minority employees by physically isolating them from other employees or customer contact
• Assign primarily minorities to predominantly minority establishments or geographic areas
• Exclude minorities from certain positions, or group or categorize employees or jobs so that certain jobs are generally held by minorities
• Code applications or resumes to designate an applicant's race to exclude them from employment or from certain positions