Racial Profiling at Work

When Your Skin Color Becomes a Workplace Target

You shouldn’t have to prove you belong. You shouldn’t have to work twice as hard to be trusted or get watched while everyone else gets praised. If you’re constantly being singled out, scrutinized, or second-guessed because of your race, that’s not just “company culture.” That’s racial profiling.

At Horn Wright, LLP, we fight for workers who are tired of being treated like a threat instead of a teammate. We help employees across New York, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine hold employers accountable when they allow or enable racially biased treatment. While New York’s Executive Law § 296 and the NYC Human Rights Law offer strong protections, other states vary—some require faster action or agency complaints first. We’ll guide you through every step, no matter where it happened.

Racial profiling at work is both humiliating and illegal. Whether it’s constant monitoring, false accusations, or assumptions about your intelligence, this kind of targeting has no place on the job. 

How Racial Profiling Shows Up at Work

It doesn’t always start with a slur or a confrontation. Sometimes it’s quiet. Sometimes it’s wrapped in fake professionalism or “company policy.” But make no mistake—it’s profiling, and it damages careers and mental health alike.

• Excessive monitoring or surveillance. You’re the only one getting watched, tracked, or micromanaged. Management says it’s about “accountability,” but it always seems to land on you. That kind of unequal scrutiny chips away at your dignity—and it’s not random. It’s control disguised as oversight.
• Assumptions about criminal behavior. Someone accuses you of stealing, cheating time, or violating policy without proof. These accusations often stick longer and hit harder. And they can follow you long after you leave the job.
• Security checks no one else gets. You’re the one pulled aside, questioned, or patted down. Coworkers walk by unnoticed. You’re not being paranoid; they are targeting you. When it keeps happening to the same people, it’s not protocol—it’s profiling.
• Denials of access or trust. You’re told you can’t handle sensitive information, interact with VIP clients, or work on certain tasks. But others with less experience or worse performance have no problem.
• Being mistaken for someone else—constantly. You get called by the wrong name. Confused with another employee. Treated like a visitor in your own department. That “mistake” doesn’t happen to your white coworkers. It chips away at your identity and presence.

Why Employers Try to Justify Profiling

When you call out profiling, most employers don’t apologize. They defend it. They hide behind policy, pretend it’s “miscommunication,” or suggest you’re being too sensitive. But their explanations rarely hold up under real scrutiny.

They may say it’s about company rules or safety, but when only workers of color are being followed, monitored, or mistrusted, that’s discrimination. Bias doesn’t need to be loud to be harmful. Profiling can be quiet and still cause long-term damage to your reputation, paycheck, and mental health.

In some cases, profiling starts with one manager or department. But when leadership fails to stop it, it becomes a company-wide problem. And that’s when liability kicks in. If you’ve tried to raise concerns and nothing’s changed, the problem isn’t just your supervisor. It’s the system backing them up.

What Profiling Does to You—And Your Career

If you’ve been profiled at work, you already know how it feels. You second-guess yourself. You walk on eggshells. You don’t feel safe. But the damage doesn’t stop at emotions—it can derail your entire professional future.

Being seen as a threat or liability means fewer opportunities. You get passed over for promotions, excluded from teams, or labeled “difficult.” Over time, it affects your resume, your confidence, and your trajectory. 

Many workers stay quiet because they don’t want to be seen as “troublemakers.” But silence won’t protect you and it won’t make them stop. Speaking up might feel risky, but it’s also how things change. And you don’t have to do it alone.

How to Spot Patterns of Profiling

If you’re trying to figure out whether what’s happening is profiling or not—trust your instincts. But also look for patterns. These repeated behaviors often expose deeper bias.

• Only certain employees are scrutinized. When coworkers of color are always the ones written up, monitored, or disciplined, something’s off. That targeting has a ripple effect on morale and opportunity.
• The same excuses keep showing up. Every time you raise a concern, they blame your “tone,” “attitude,” or “lack of fit.” Those coded terms are often used to silence people of color. 
• You're held to standards others aren't. You make one small mistake and it’s a crisis. Your white coworker makes ten and gets a pass. And it shows exactly who the rules are really for.
• HR doesn't take complaints seriously. You file a report, and nothing happens. Or worse—they investigate you. If the system protects the profiler, it’s part of the problem. HR isn’t neutral when they ignore harm.
• Multiple people have similar experiences. Talk to trusted coworkers. If others are dealing with the same treatment, it confirms what you already know: it’s not just you. There’s power in recognizing a pattern.

What the Law Says in New York—and Beyond

New York has some of the strongest anti-discrimination laws in the country. Under Executive Law § 296 and the NYC Human Rights Law, racial profiling at work is unlawful. You don’t have to prove someone used a slur or made a direct threat. If the treatment is based on race and impacts your job, that’s enough.

Other states differ. In New Jersey, the Law Against Discrimination (LAD) gives broad protections and generous deadlines. But New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine have narrower laws and stricter complaint timelines. In some cases, you have as little as 180 days to act. And unlike New York, those states don’t always allow direct lawsuits without first going through an agency investigation.

That’s why timing and location matters. You might have more rights than you realize, or fewer than you expected. Either way, it’s not worth guessing. At Horn Wright, LLP, we help you make sense of which laws apply, when to file, and how to build a case no matter where you’re working. Whether your state is aggressive about protections or more limited, we’ll help you make the strongest possible claim.

What You Can Do if You're Being Profiled

You don’t have to wait for things to get worse. If you’re already being profiled, there are steps you can take now to protect yourself, your rights, and your career.

• Start documenting everything. Dates, times, who said what—keep a log. Emails and screenshots are gold. The more you record, the harder it is for them to deny. Even if it feels small in the moment, that detail might matter later.
• Tell someone ormally. File a written complaint with HR or your supervisor. Even if nothing happens, it creates a paper trail. That’s critical if you take legal action later.
• Talk to coworkers you trust. You might not be the only one going through this. Others may be willing to speak up or support your claims. Their stories help confirm that what you're seeing isn’t isolated.
• Get legal advice early. Don’t wait until you’re written up or fired. A lawyer can help you make smart moves now and spot what HR wants you to miss. You’ll be better prepared and less vulnerable to company tactics. Legal guidance now saves a lot of regret later.
• Take care of yourself. Profiling is traumatic. Therapy, rest, and support are part of protecting your well-being. Your health—mental and physical—is evidence too, and it matters in your case.

We’re Here When You’re Ready to Be Heard

You’re not imagining it. You’re not “too sensitive.” If racial profiling is making your job unbearable, you have the right to say something. And you have the right to be taken seriously.

At Horn Wright, LLP, we stand with workers who’ve been watched, sidelined, and mistreated because of how they look. From New York to Maine, we help people like you reclaim power, dignity, and justice. We’ll walk beside you and make sure your story gets the attention it deserves.