What is Defined as discrimination?

When many people think of discrimination, they think only of situations of open harassment against a certain group. But it doesn’t have to be. Discrimination can be subtle. Intent or motive to discriminate is not necessary for a case of discrimination – it is sufficient if the conduct has a discriminatory effect, even if it’s unintentional.

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Subtle forms of discrimination can often only be detected after looking at all of the circumstances. It is a fact-driven determination. The test for subtle discrimination is if an objective by-stander similarly situated when viewing all the evidence as a whole will conclude that discrimination had occurred. Subtle discrimination could be hard to find. Some investigation and analysis of the total context of the alleged behaviour, comment or conduct may be required.

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The following types of treatment in employment may indicate subtle discrimination:

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• being excluded from formal or informal gatherings, such as after-hours get-togethers or office parties

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• being denied mentoring or developmental opportunities such as training that are available to other employees

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• differences in management practices, such as excessive monitoring, micromanagement and requiring the employee to document everything that he or she does

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• Assigned less desirable jobs or duties

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• Workload mismatch - Assigned more job responsibilities or workload as compared to other employees.