Recruiting Diversity: Is Archie Bunker running your HR department?
Anyone familiar with the tv show “All In The Family” knows that the star of the sitcom - Archie Bunker would not be an honored guest within those associations with a high percentage of diversity. (NAACP for example…) Well, Archie Bunkers days of cavalier racism and discrimination evaporated with the 70’s… or did they?
I read a recent report that said that the Archie Bunker mentality was alive and well, especially in the areas of racial discrimination and sexual harrassment.
Here are the highlights…
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Sexual harassment charges increased 146 percent between 1992 and 2001. They have increased 150,000 percent since 1980. (1)
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Pregnancy discrimination charges increased 126 percent between 1992 and 2001. (2)
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Sexual discrimination charges increased 112 percent during the same period. (3)
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Racial discrimination charges increased 484 percent between the 1980-1989 decade and the 1990-1999 decade. (4)
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National origin charges increased 112 percent in the period 1992-2001. (5)
What’s worse is that the above numbers account for only some of the discrimination suits that have been filed Not all complaints go through the EEOC; some are filed independently.
What’s the cause of all this? Well, here are a couple of theories…
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A significant increase in the number of non-whites and women in professional and managerial positions
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With more diversity in the workplace, it is becoming easier to observe unfair practices against a particular group or groups (What a catch 22!)
More food for thought…
When a company is pinged for discriminatory practices (say against African Americans) the usual reflex is to hire more candidaes from the discriminated demographic as a show of “good faith” that the company has either learned its lesson or that the charges were wrongful in the first place. My question is, “How should a recruiter adjust his sales pitch when he is charged with hiring diversity when the company he represents is being sued for discriminatory practices?”
Just for giggles, imagine that the five companies cited below for “naughty behavior” are your clients and you have to hire diversity candidates for them. What would be your recruitment stategy?
Client #1: Who do voo doo?
A nursing home that accused union organizers of using voodoo to frighten its Haitian-American employees into joining has been accused by federal officials of mistreating workers. The National Labor Relations Board said last month it found evidence of spying on workers, threats and unfair dismissals at Mount Sinai-St. Francis Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Miami. It granted four workers a Nov. 12 hearing before a labor judge. August 8, 2002
Client #2: Scotty ain’t beaming us up!
More than 100 black employees who claimed they were unfairly denied promotions by NASA will divide $3.75 million in a settlement. May 28, 2002.
Client #3: No que pasa?
Enforcement of an English-only policy at a hair salon in North Riverside Park Mall has led to a $240,000 settlement against a national chain of salons on behalf of six former Hispanic employees. (registration required) July 30, 2002
Client #4: Awwww… its all fake anyway
Turner Broadcasting System Inc. has been added to the list of defendants in a federal racial discrimination lawsuit filed by 12 former professional wrestlers against the company’s now-defunct World Championship Wrestling subsidiary. The wrestlers, all African-American or Asian, accuse the WCW and Turner of denying them the same opportunities for advancement available to white wrestlers and paying them less than white wrestlers. July 12, 2002
Client #5: Ummm… what kind of videoes were they making?
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced an $875,000 settlement of an employment discrimination lawsuit against Technicolor Videocassette, Inc. (TVI) at its Camarillo, Calif., video/DVD processing plant, on behalf of a class of women who alleged they were subjected to serious, mostly verbal, sexual harassment and to retaliation. TVI is the leading global supplier and distributor of DVDs, CDs, and video cassettes. August 14, 2002
READ: Number of Discrimination Suits Soar
I anxiously await any and all comments to this blog post.
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One Response to “Recruiting Diversity: Is Archie Bunker running your HR department?”
By sarahmina on Dec 10, 2007 | Reply
Lets get real. Most white people who discriminate know it is wrong and that AFrican Americans and people of color are not inately inferior. They discriminate anyway because it keeps them in a postiion of power and control. They secure their “privileged” spot in the world. Your examples are immaterial in that no matter how you answer, unless there is a concerted effort in this country to send a positive message about people of color, through TV ads, TV shows, radio etc., I don’t think anything significant will change for a very long time. Poor people of color will get poorer with a few slipping through the cracks and hailed as successes.