Accent Discrimination
Maria, a Spanish-speaking female, has been denied promotion in favor of Alex, A white male. Although Maria and Alex both have graduate degrees, Maria has more tenure with the company and is the more experienced employee. However, Alex has received higher evaluation scores than Maria. Maria has filed a discrimination complaint against the company alleging that her low evaluation scores were due to the built in bias of her white male supervisors. Furthermore, Maria alleges that the reason she was not promoted was due to her Spanish accent. Management’s counter argument is that Maria received low evaluation scores because she had been counseled multiple times for violation of the company’s time and attendance policy. …show more content…
Moreover, there is no standardized measurement for the degree of a foreign accent. The EEOC allows the employer to decide what is the acceptable degree of a foreign accent. In Beard’s (2013) examination of language discrimination cases he found that court commonly ruled in favor of the employer, either because the employer had justifiable non- discriminatory reasons for their decision or that the employee had not suffered significant harm. For example Manuel Fragrante, a native of the Phillipines and U.S. Vietnam War veteran, had received numerous “excellent” English language ratings during his military service. Upon retirement he applied for a position at the city of Honolulu’s Department of Motor Vehicles and Licensing (DMV) and scored higher than any other applicant on the pre-employment exam, which included sections on spelling, grammar, and word usage. After the personal interview, he was denied the position, on the basis that his accent would interfere with his job duties. Fragrante brought suit against the Honolulu DMV alleging language discrimination. Even though Fragrante was only asked to clarify …show more content…
Her contention is that she received low evaluations scores, and was not promoted because of bias and prejudiced behavior on the part of her white male supervisor.
The company denies any bias in relationship to Maria’s evaluations, stating that her low scores are a result of documented time and attendance infractions. However, the company does agree that Maria’s accent played a part in the decision not to promote her stating that the position in question required the ability to communicate clearly with clients.
The term individual discrimination refers to the intentional injurious actions of a member(s) of a one group against a member(s) of another group. Structural discrimination refers to institutional policies that are neutral in intent, but because of the actions of the group implementing the policies are detrimental to another group (Pincus, 2000). Although Maria is in the position of minority in her department, there is nothing in the scenario to indicate that a white male employee would not have been counseled in the same manner for identical instances of tardiness and absence. Maria, states that she “felt it was her duty to be there for the family member” and made a personal decision that negatively impacted her work evaluation. (DeVry, 2015). Additionally, there is no data given reflecting the percentage of minorities in other departments
Maria, a Spanish-speaking female, has been denied promotion in favor of Alex, A white male. Although Maria and Alex both have graduate degrees, Maria has more tenure with the company and is the more experienced employee. However, Alex has received higher evaluation scores than Maria. Maria has filed a discrimination complaint against the company alleging that her low evaluation scores were due to the built in bias of her white male supervisors. Furthermore, Maria alleges that the reason she was not promoted was due to her Spanish accent. Management’s counter argument is that Maria received low evaluation scores because she had been counseled multiple times for violation of the company’s time and attendance policy. …show more content…
Moreover, there is no standardized measurement for the degree of a foreign accent. The EEOC allows the employer to decide what is the acceptable degree of a foreign accent. In Beard’s (2013) examination of language discrimination cases he found that court commonly ruled in favor of the employer, either because the employer had justifiable non- discriminatory reasons for their decision or that the employee had not suffered significant harm. For example Manuel Fragrante, a native of the Phillipines and U.S. Vietnam War veteran, had received numerous “excellent” English language ratings during his military service. Upon retirement he applied for a position at the city of Honolulu’s Department of Motor Vehicles and Licensing (DMV) and scored higher than any other applicant on the pre-employment exam, which included sections on spelling, grammar, and word usage. After the personal interview, he was denied the position, on the basis that his accent would interfere with his job duties. Fragrante brought suit against the Honolulu DMV alleging language discrimination. Even though Fragrante was only asked to clarify …show more content…
Her contention is that she received low evaluations scores, and was not promoted because of bias and prejudiced behavior on the part of her white male supervisor.
The company denies any bias in relationship to Maria’s evaluations, stating that her low scores are a result of documented time and attendance infractions. However, the company does agree that Maria’s accent played a part in the decision not to promote her stating that the position in question required the ability to communicate clearly with clients.
The term individual discrimination refers to the intentional injurious actions of a member(s) of a one group against a member(s) of another group. Structural discrimination refers to institutional policies that are neutral in intent, but because of the actions of the group implementing the policies are detrimental to another group (Pincus, 2000). Although Maria is in the position of minority in her department, there is nothing in the scenario to indicate that a white male employee would not have been counseled in the same manner for identical instances of tardiness and absence. Maria, states that she “felt it was her duty to be there for the family member” and made a personal decision that negatively impacted her work evaluation. (DeVry, 2015). Additionally, there is no data given reflecting the percentage of minorities in other departments