Co-workers’ complaint cost him promotion — was it bias?
August 24, 2009 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In This Week's E-Newsletter, Latest News & Views, Law
Hiring decisions sometimes have to be a little subjective. Then what happens when a rejected candidate claims discrimination?
In one recent case, an African-American employee was qualified for a promotion. But he was turned down in favor of a co-worker he believed to be less qualified.
When he complained, the company acknowledged that, on paper, he was qualified for the job. The reason he didn’t get it: his co-workers’ complaints about his professionalism, attitude and treatment of customers and other employees.
The employee thought his race was the real reason, and he sued.
Who won?
The judge sided with the company, agreeing that it takes more than just a good resume to get a job. The employee was arguably the most technically qualified, but his “soft skills” mattered, too.
There are a lot of factors that go into hiring or promotion decisions, and rejected candidates will rarely agree with outcome. But as long as managers have legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for turning someone down, the company can stay out of legal trouble.
Cite: Adebesi v. The University of Tennessee
Tags: Adebesit v. The University of Tennessee, bias, promotions
August 28th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
I certainly would expect that there was documentation of specific behaviors he did that was considered his laack of professionalism, poor attitude and mistreatment of customers and other employees with specific examples of what was expected.
I have found that when people hold bias’ towards someone from a different group, they tend to be hyper critical of them (or unduly lenient). When a lot of employees hold such views and can’t articulate what they would expect the person to do instead, then it is usually their bias’ driving their attitudes.