Companies that are characterized by a diverse, respectful, and dignified workplace invariably enjoy the benefits of improved employee morale, higher productivity, larger market share, and a strong bottom line.
And that’s good news, because your organization IS going to be characterized by diversity–demographics alone guarantee it. But as we saw in yesterday’s Advisor, addressing diversity can be difficult.
Here’s another exercise that can start your discussions of diversity.
Diversity or Discrimination?
Divide into groups to answer, or, if you have a small group, answer individually and then compare answers.
Could the supervisors’ comments listed below cause legal trouble? If so, how? (HR Daily Advisor’s "answers" to the questions can be found below.)
1. “Alice is pregnant. She shouldn’t be flying, so I’m taking her off all the out-of-town cases.”
2. “Let’s all get together Saturday—well, except for Al. He tends to put a damper on things.” (Al is of a different ethnic background than the other members of the group.)
3. “Tracy has young kids at home; he won’t be interested in that promotional opportunity—too many late hours.”
4. “So they’re getting on me for my EEO stats? I’ve got the solution—I’m selecting minorities from now on. I just won’t hire any nonminority, even if he or she is more qualified.”
5. “Women aren’t tough enough for this job. It takes a real lumberjack type to last 8 hours at this job.”
6. “I’m not hiring someone who wears that crazy getup. I’ve got to entertain clients here.”
7. “I didn’t hire him. He does have the qualifications, but with that impairment I don’t see how he can do the job.”
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8. “Personally, I’d like to hire with diversity, but my customers just wouldn’t be comfortable with that. It’s a business decision, not discrimination.”
9. “I guess we have to hire him, but that doesn’t mean I have to associate with him, or even speak to him.”
HR Daily Advisor‘s comments on the statements above:
1. This kind of patronizing comment is a plea for a lawsuit. You must treat pregnant employees the same as all other employees.
2. This comment could cause legal trouble. Exclusion from quasi-corporate activities is likely discrimination.
3. Once again, a patronizing approach such as this is illegal.
4. This king of thinking is called reverse discrimination. It’s actionable.
5. This statement indicates illegal stereotyping. Rather than reject a class of people, assess an individual’s ability to do the job.
6. If that "crazy getup" is religion-based, this could be trouble.
7. If the impairment is a disability, this approach is clearly discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The situation requires an interactive discussion.
8. Customer preference is not an acceptable excuse for discrimination.
9. Sounds like discrimination. If the person in question is of a particular ethnic group, avoidance discrimination will be a possible charge.
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How about your policies on hiring, discrimination, and diversity? They’re probably among 50 or so of your policies that should be updated (or maybe written)? It’s easy to let it slide, but you can’t afford to backburner work on your policies—they’re your only hope for consistent and compliant management that avoids lawsuits.
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Do You Need a Twitter/Facebook/YouTube Policy?
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