Challenge Yourself!

Naira, who is Native American, works part-time at a bowling alley. She tries to register for the company's manager training program, but her supervisor tells her that the class is full, commenting, "It's just as well. After all, you'll make a lot more money working at a casino on your people's reservation." Later that day, the supervisor allows five of Naira's co-workers, none of whom are Native American, to register for the training program. Did the supervisor discriminate against Naira?

1. A. No. Naira works part-time, and federal law does not protect part-time workers from employment discrimination.

   A is incorrect.
   Federal law protects full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees from employment discrimination.

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2. B. No. Federal employment law does not prohibit discrimination in management training programs.

   B is incorrect.
   It is illegal to discriminate in all types of work situations, including admission to management training programs.

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3. C. Yes, if the supervisor refused to allow Naira to register for the training program because of her race.

   C is correct.
   The supervisor's decision to allow five non-Native American employees to register for the training program after telling Naira that the class was full, along with his comment to Naira, suggest that he may have denied Naira access to the manager training program because she is Native American.

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4. D. Yes. The supervisor discriminated against Naira because of her race when he refused to allow her to register for the manager training program. In addition, the supervisor's remark about Naira working at a casino on "[her] people's reservation" is illegal harassment based on Naira's race.

   D is incorrect.
   The supervisor's conduct suggests that he may have discriminated against Naira because she is Native American when he refused to allow her to register for the manager training program. Soon after telling Naira that the program was full, he allowed five non-Native American employees to register. The supervisor's comment about working at a casino on "[her] people's" reservation is not serious or frequent enough to be illegal harassment. But because the comment shows bias against Native-Americans, it may be further evidence that the supervisor refused to allow Naira into the training program because of her race.

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