South Florida Personal Injury Blog

The South Florida Sun Sentinel has reported that African-American and Latino workers are often the first ones who are fired during economic hard times. The explanations for why this is true vary, but one common refrain is “last one hired, first one fired” – meaning that the employee who has spent the least amount of time with the business may be the first one to lose his job during tough times. This practice, which sounds fair on its face, may not take into account a newer employee’s positive contributions or better work ethic when compared to his counterparts who have more time at the company. Either way, Fort Lauderdale employment discrimination lawyer Andrew Alitowski believes that employees should keep a sharp eye on the practices of management any time there are layoffs and to be wary of employment discrimination of any kind.

Recessions hit minority populations hard, according to the federal Bureau of Labor statistics. Unemployment in the African-American community is generally about twice that of their white counterparts, according to government figures dating back to the 1970s. From the end of 2007 until now, African-American unemployment has risen markedly to 13.4 percent from 8.9 percent. Similarly, Latino unemployment has gone from 6.2 percent to 10.9 percent. In the same time frame, white unemployment has also risen, but not as starkly. White unemployment is currently at 7.3 percent from 4.4 percent just over a year ago.

The figures are complicated because they represent several factors. African-American and Latino workers are more concentrated in certain areas of the workforce, including construction. The rapid decline of the housing market has contributed to a harsh decrease in the amount of jobs available in that field. Similarly, there are more African-American and Latino workers employed in the service industries, an area that has taken a tremendous hit in light of Americans’ overall ability to spend less.

Although blue collar jobs have been hit the hardest, Broward discrimination attorney Alitowski notes that white collar workers are at high risk, as well. Duke University professor William Darity, who teaches economics and African-American Studies, says that "blacks and Latinos are relative latecomers to the professional world,” which makes them “necessarily the most vulnerable" during layoffs and recessions. Additionally, Professor Darity says that lower relative net worth in minority households makes it more difficult to stay afloat during hard times. For instance, while white households have a median net worth of about $90,000, Latinos have a median net worth of $8,000, and African-American households have a median net worth of $6,000. Those figures reflect less wealth generally, higher rates of unemployment, and that minority families are less likely to own their own homes.

Below, find a video discussing the financial crisis and the disparate impact on communities of color: