Summary of Petition and Why Sign:

Per the US Constitution, we all should have equal rights but currently we do not. Only some individuals are protected through civil rights from the various types of discrimination. This is because Title VII is based on limited and segregated “protected classes”. This allows for discrimination in our workplaces resulting in unsafe hostile work environments and harm to individuals. All of this goes against our human rights including but not limited by the rights to dignity, security of person, and just and favorable work conditions. Our human rights also define for equal protection against cruelty, degrading treatment, and discrimination. 

Please help create positive change by signing this petition to provide equal protection against discrimination for all.

Detailed Petition:

Everyone deserves equal protection of the law against any employment discrimination. We need to be classified as individual citizens per the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution to provide this. Otherwise, our Constitutional Rights as well as our Human Rights are being violated in various ways. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) defines our Human Rights which are inherent to all human beings and should be protected by governments. The UDHR is meant to be the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace however, at a minimum Articles 1 thru 3, 5, 7, and 23 are not fulfilled in the workplace.

Our current equal employment opportunity Federal Civil Rights Law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and its amendments do not provide equal rights or protection for all individuals and are instead distinct by class. This lack of equal protection against various types of discrimination obstructs providing for just and favorable work conditions which is a Human Right. In turn, our rights to security of person are being violated through the harm of individuals' mental and physical health and wellbeing in torturous, cruel, and inhumane ways of which all humans should also have the freedom from. In December 2014, the United Nations created the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 9 (Liberty and security of person). This Covenant defines the security of person to be freedom from injury to the body and the mind, or bodily and mental integrity. It also states that security of person is a right meant to protect all individuals against the intentional infliction of bodily or mental injury.

A civil right is a right given by the government which if interfered with by another gives right to an action for injury. The absence of sufficient Civil Rights against discrimination enables workplace stress and infliction of mental and physical harm on employees. To improve the prevailing crisis in our country’s workplace environments this discrimination needs to stop now. 

The solution to our Country’s workplace discrimination crisis is to amend Title VII to stop segregating people by class identities and instead unify all individuals under one class of people. We should all be protected by the law from discrimination and harassing unwelcome or threatening behavior regardless of a distinct class. Currently, this is a psychological hazard causing trauma to individuals without care or concern for their health, safety, and wellbeing. It is unjust and all should be equally protected by the law from workplace discrimination. Granting equal protection against any discrimination is how we create true justice for all.

Similar to the ongoing poor workplace environments we have now, there was a large crisis with regards to race and sex discrimination that came to a head in and around the 1960’s which led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 including Title VII on discrimination. Title VII is a Federal Law that protects some individuals against specific types of discrimination.

One type of discrimination prohibited is harassment, designated in two ways: 

Harassment becomes unlawful where 1) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment, or 2) the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive. 

This harassment, however, per Title VII, is woefully only considered unlawful if the harassment is unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy), national origin, older age (beginning at age 40), disability, or genetic information (including family medical history). Article 2 of the UDHR lists examples of such classes, nevertheless, we should not be limited by these classes and should be given the same rights for all, without distinction of any kind. The two above listed ways of prohibiting harassment can remain as is; however, the current version of Title VII is biased and discriminates by requiring a specific class to provide protection. Likewise, everyone should be protected from all types of discrimination.

It should be unlawful for any employee to have to endure offensive conduct as a condition of continued employment based on bias and unjust reasons, despite a segregated class. Unwarranted and hostile comments that threaten an individual's employment for any unreasonable reason are cruel, torturous, and inhumane. These types of comments cause extreme stress for the employee as they are a threat to the employee and their livelihood. Currently, these statements are not illegal unless due to discrimination based on gender, race, religion, age, disability, or other protected classes. Similarly, any conduct in the workplace which is severe or pervasive creating an intimidating, hostile, or abusive work environment should be unlawful discrimination regardless of a protected class.  

A very basic example is as follows. If a white male manager was to make an offensive comment towards a black woman stating “you need to change your hair or you will be fired”, by current laws this is discrimination and unlawful. It is wrong and undignified for anyone to speak to a black woman this way or to any other person, and we should all have equal protection against it. If that same manager was to make the exact same statement to a white male it would not be considered unlawful per the current Title VII laws. Therefore, the law is discriminatory and does not protect all individuals equally.

There has been a massive increase in studies being performed on subjects such as hostile work environments, workplace harassment, and other types of discrimination since having a safe work environment is crucial to effective workplace management. Unsafe or hostile work environments are often caused by cruel and degrading harassment or discrimination including, but not limited to, offensive jokes, slurs, epithets or name calling, physical assaults or threats, intimidation, ridicule or mockery, insults or put-downs, offensive objects or pictures, and interference with work performance. These behaviors in work environments are a significant source of work stress and have been identified as core psychological hazards that everyone should have protection from.

This is also effecting our country's healthcare and economy. An article by International Association for Human Resource Information Management (IHRIM) noted poor work environments are as harmful to health as second-hand smoke and that the workplace is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. Many are presently fed up with this crisis and looking for new employment options. This along with other effects from discriminatory actions in our work environments has the potential to cause even greater problems in our future healthcare and economy.

Addressing workplace issues now would help provide options for our future since individuals have limited rights as employees. One of the difficulties that needs to be overcome is with regard to cases such as Faragher v. City of Boca Raton. These types of judgements have given more power to the employer and in turn taken rights away from the employee. 

History is repeating and it is now time for a major change in Civil Rights, as it was roughly 60 years ago. This is necessary to protect the employee’s mental health, physical health, and overall wellbeing. We have to give back some rights to the employees to make workplaces safe. Amending Title VII and increasing Civil Rights in favor of all individuals is a must to offer our inherent Human Rights. Sign now to support.

 

Constitution Annotated - 14th Ammendment​

United Nations - Universal Declaration of Human Rights​

EEOC - Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964​

United Nations - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights​

Cornell Law School - Civil Right​

National Library of Medicine - Workplace stress: A Neglected Aspect of Mental Health Wellbeing​

Human Rights Careers - What are Human Rights Violations?​

WorkSafe Victoria - Psychosocial Hazards Contributing to Work-Related Stress​

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - Discrimination by Type ​

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - Harassment​

International Association for Human Resource Information Management - Solving the Workplace Health Crisis