Hiring Discrimination

Hiring Discrimination

Case: Seasons 52 against the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

1. This case focused on hiring discrimination based on age. The evidence emerged due to wide-spread complaints from job-seekers that claimed seasons 52 discriminated them based on their age in the hiring process. This data was gathered from their online recruiting program and various applications on their satellite offices. More the 135 applicants volunteered to testify in court over the age-related comments made during the hiring process. The Article by Roy Maurer quotes, “we are looking for people with less experience, seasons 52 girls are young and fresh” (Maurer, 2018). These comments provide a clear indication of the mindset of the hiring officials. To further put the point across, the senior attorney Laurie McCann is quoted as saying, “this case is a clear indication of how far we need to go when it comes to age discrimination 50 years after the enactment of the ADEA” (Maurer, 2018). The EEOC went through all the applications made to the company checking for patterns of age discrimination. The conclusion was that seasons 52 had committed gross misconduct in the hiring process. The defendant seasons 52, denied any fault in the case but decided on an out of court agreement and a major overhaul of the hiring process.

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   One of the changes was that an independent observer would supervise the hiring process for the following three years. The complainants would be given a second chance at reapplying for the job. The spokesperson, Hunter Robinson, expressed his gratitude at the peaceful resolution.
2. The defendant in this scenario broke the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, whose mandate is to protect the citizens over 40 years. The above-law prevents organizations from basing their hiring decisions on the age of the applicant. It also prohibits discrimination in relation to employment privileges, workers’ compensation, and promotion. The law was enforced in 1967, and it sought to prevent the older working-class from losing their working skills due to long periods of unemployment. The law affects both the private and public sectors, with more than 20 employees. In Title 29, Chapter 14 of the U.S. Code states that the purpose of the law is, “to promote employment of older persons on their ability rather than age; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment, to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment” (Kenton, 2019). In reading the ADEA, it is clear that Seasons 52 had broken many of the laws put across to protect the older citizens. The hiring personnel made specific comments regarding the applicants’ age, which is against the law. Their workforce also reflects a grim out-look when you check the age distribution among the employees.
3. The company should have educated the hiring committee on the importance of equality in hiring. It is quite possible that these decisions were made out of ignorance. If not, then the culpable employees should be punished or relieved of their jobs. This kind of practice cannot be allowed to continue in the company. The company can improve in this aspect by changing their hiring approach. Advertisement is very important since most jobs are posted online, which is frequented by the younger generation hence disadvantaging the old folk. Companies should seek other avenues to advertise and should avoid including the age bracket in the advertisement. The company should also train the hiring staff on how to ask age-neutral interview questions. The panel should also consist of people of all ages (Meyer, 2018).

References

Case. Text. Incorporation. “US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. GMRI INC” (November 1, 2017). Retrieved from: https://casetext.com/case/us-equal-empt-opportunity-commn-v-gmri-inc

Eric. B. Meyer. “Approved Ways That Your Company Can Prevent Age Discrimination At Work” (June 28, 2018). Retrieved from: https://blog.shrm.org/blog/four-eeoc-approved-ways-that-your-company-can-prevent-age-discrimination-at

Will. Kenton. “Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967” (June 25, 2019). Retrieved from: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/age-discrimination-employment-act-1967.asp