The Seattle City Council voted to pass a bill that adds caste to the categories of people protected from discrimination in various arenas, including employment, housing and public accommodations.
While a small number of colleges have prohibited caste discrimination in admissions and internal employment, Seattle is the first jurisdiction to do so as a matter of law.
CB 120511 bans employers from making workplace-related decisions based on any "system of rigid social stratification characterized by hereditary status, endogamy, and social barriers sanctioned by custom, law, or religion." To ensure you comply with the new law and protect the rights of this new class, you may need to familiarize yourself with how caste appears in traditions you may not know well.
Caste in the Employment Context
Caste is a complicated and fluid term. The word derives from Portuguese and was first applied to complex systems of social organization in the Indian subcontinent that early Portuguese explorers did not well understand.
In Hinduism and related religious traditions, it refers to two concepts. First, it refers to the four "varnas" that stratify society. These include the Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaishyas (merchants and farmers), and Shudras (artisans and laborers), as well as those with no caste, the Dalits (formerly referred to as "untouchables") and Adivasi (indigenous peoples of India).
Second, it refers to the thousands of "Jātis," which are traditional...
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