Access Denied: Investigating Race and Disability Discrimination in Restroom Access in New York City

• In Event: 20211 - Experimental and Applied Social Research

Abstract

Sociologists have long used field experiments to measure and reveal the depth of racial discrimination in the United States. Yet experimental research on how racial discrimination intersects with a second, consequential form of discrimination—that against disabled individuals—remains limited. In this research project, we explore whether access to a legally mandated disability accommodation is moderated by an individual’s racial presentation. Drawing on a state law that requires private businesses to provide individuals with gastrointestinal disorders with access to restrooms, we send Black- and white-presenting actors to 1,680 New York City businesses (5.2 percent of all nonvacant Manhattan storefronts) to request to use the restroom due to their disability. In a preliminary analysis of visits to 1,079 businesses, we find that the racial presentation of actors does not significantly affect whether employees grant them access to restrooms. Instead, the racial presentation of employees significantly influences the decision to grant restroom access, such that employees of color are significantly less likely to allow actors to use the restroom. In our discussion, we describe a potential explanation for this finding: amidst employment precarity, employees of color may be less able or willing to take the risk to grant unknown individuals access to restrooms at their workplaces, with negative consequences for disabled individuals who medically require access to restrooms. We look forward to presenting the results from our complete analysis of restroom requests at 1,680 locations in New York City in our final ASA draft and presentation.

Authors

• Avra Janz, New York University

• Nnamdi Manuel Jogwe, New York University