- you overheard a colleague or manager refer to you as the “diversity hire” on your team?
- you were continuously pigeon-holed into representing your race or gender at diversity and recruiting events meanwhile other coworkers were being selected for the more substantive career-enhancing client assignments?
- you were constantly asked unwelcoming questions at work about your clothes, hair, ethnic attire?
- you were subject to inappropriate comments, public humiliation, or bullying by your coworkers and when you reported these instances to your manager or HR, they were either unresponsive or responded negatively towards you?
- you were of Middle Eastern or Arab decent and a coworker jokingly compared you to a terrorist?
- you genuinely felt that you consistently performed well and exceeded job expectations, only to find out you have been passed up for promotion while other equally or less qualified coworkers were promoted?
- your identity were continuously mistaken for another person in the company for no other reason than they are the same race as you?
- you were excluded from social events at work because of your race, sex, age?
These are only a handful of the many forms of unfairness that cumulatively push out corporate leavers. These sometimes subtle, yet insidious indignities experienced in the workplace by women, gays and lesbians, and people of color inspired Freada Kapor Klein to write the book, Giving Notice.
