Breaking the class ceiling? Protections against caste discrimination in United States workplaces
Ashley M. AlteriPurpose
Discussions around caste discrimination have deeply divided the South Asian community in the United States. Prompted by lawsuits and efforts to pass anti-discrimination laws, the role of caste has been hotly debated. Absent laws explicitly providing anti-discrimination protections, workplaces are left to examine a patchwork of laws and cases examining issues surrounding caste discrimination for clues.
Design/methodology/approach
This article uses legal analysis to examine existing laws prohibiting similar forms of discrimination, court cases addressing caste and legal scholarship.
Findings
Currently, laws do not conclusively protect against caste discrimination. This article proposes a broader policy that captures both caste and other forms of social/economic discrimination.
Originality/value
Studies concerning discrimination in the workplace should be anchored in a discussion of employment laws. However, the literature largely ignores the current state of anti-discrimination protections for new or emerging forms of discrimination. This does a disservice to managers and human resources practitioners who are forced to grapple with these issues in real time. This article seeks to address this gap by providing a detailed examination of the current state of caste discrimination protections and likely extensions of comparable discrimination laws.