According to figures released the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2007 was a record year for racial harassment cases, racking up nearly 7,000 claims by year’s end. And if the recent news about Conectiv Energy’s recent $1.65 million discrimination settlement is any indication, the upward trend in racial harassment claims doesn’t seem likely to die down anytime soon.

In case you missed it, Conectiv Energy and three of its subcontractors recently settled discrimination claims brought by four African-American employees who said they were subjected to racial slurs, KKK graffiti, and hanging nooses while on the job.

I’m sorry, but I just don’t get it. Do we live in bizarro world? If memory serves, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law in 1964, well over forty years ago. Don’t we already have laws in place to protect employees from such humiliation?

We do, but apparently they are malfunctioning. Here’s just a small sampling of some of 2007’s most prominent racial harassment cases:

• Lockheed Martin, a US Government defense contractor, paid $2.5 million (the biggest individual racial discrimination settlement in US history) to an African American employee who alleged that he was consistently subjected to death threats and the dreaded “n-word” and later laid off in retaliation for complaining about it.

• Home Depot, the currently struggling home improvement giant, paid out $125,000 to settle a suit in which the plaintiff alleged that supervisors called an employee “black boy” and “black dog.” In this case a supervisor apparently also said that the Supreme Court had ruled black people to be inferior.

Though I personally have never experienced such overt racism at work, an African American acquaintance of mine recently told of an experience he had with a former employer who told him that he needed to “stop thinking like a [n-word].”

This type of behavior at work is clearly unacceptable, and I know of no employer who actively or openly condones it. No company will ever say that they are pro workplace discrimination or that they support racial harassment, but they may inadvertently do the equivalent by doing nothing to prevent these instances of racial harassment from happening on their watch or in their workplace.

Employers who fail to take action to put an immediate end to any racially offensive working condition will likely find that sooner or later they will be subject to legal action against their company by the EEOC. In order to reduce the risk of EEOC intervention and subsequent sanctions and fines (and let’s face it people, it’s just the right thing to do), employers need to be well versed in EEOC policy and how it applies to their workplace.

All employers have a responsibility to enforce EEOC policies in their workplace and to investigate claims quickly, fairly, and effectively. If an employer fails to comply with anti- harassment and anti-discrimination policies, they run a high risk of EEOC sanctions and the negative publicity attached to such sanctions. As such, when a racial discrimination or harassment claim is raised by an employee, employers should thoroughly investigate the claim and take swift and decisive corrective action. Employers should also be mindful to be fair in their investigation (investigate the claims of all parties involved) and must take prompt, decisive, and equitable disciplinary action (make the punishment consistently fit the crime).

Perhaps the best way to be proactive about eradicating racial harassment from the workplace is to actively promote and embrace diversity in the workplace by ensuring that there is accountability for implementing diversity initiatives from the top down, effective diversity recruiting and mentoring programs, and a workplace diversity committee or task force.

These “check and balance” mechanisms will help employers ensure not only that they are complying with EEOC policies, but they will also ensure (if done right) that workplace diversity is both a priority and a necessity to the survival of their business. In long run, particularly as the nation faces a talent shortage, diversity and inclusion in the workplace is vital to the success of any business.

I remain appalled that even one case of racial harassment has made itself manifest in today’s American workplace (let alone 6,977 reported cases). But if all companies and employees work together to truly embrace opportunities to increase workplace diversity and eradicate discrimination and harassment that will quickly change.