cultural diversity final paper
The Discrimination of Nonnative Speakers in the Workplace
Melissa LeClaire
Chamberlain College of Nursing
SOCS-350N-21227: Cultural Diversity in the Professions
Fall Term September 2014
Latino, Woman and Accent Discrimination Maria, an employee of Latino decent feels she was unfairly eliminated for a promotion because of her distinct accent; she has filed a complaint alleging the company has engaged in discriminatory practices.
Evaluation
Maria is a good employee but is often loud and aggressive in her approach to co-workers and supervisors. The employee record shows there were problems with tardiness and attendance and twice supervisors for these infractions have counseled her. Maria has pointed out that she is the only Latino, person of color and woman in her department and states a supervisor stated she was not promoted because he feared clients would have trouble understanding her accent. Maria has been with the company for ten years and in her current position for seven. She holds a graduate degree and claims her low evaluations reflect a built in bias by her white male supervisors. Despite the fact that Alex, who too holds a graduate degree, has less time with the company, he had better performance evaluations than Maria and was offered the promotion. The company is admitting that Maria’s accent was a factor in their decision but claim it they did not discriminate against Maria by not offering her the promotion related to her accent alone. The company also states that clear communication was an essential component of the job in question, but was it the only component needed. What does Maria do well that could have superseded this essential component? The company may have thought they were not discriminating against Maria but by acknowledging and then stating she was not being promoted solely based on the trouble of understanding her accent, the company has indeed engaged in discriminatory practices and I feel Maria may have a valid argument, and
Melissa LeClaire
Chamberlain College of Nursing
SOCS-350N-21227: Cultural Diversity in the Professions
Fall Term September 2014
Latino, Woman and Accent Discrimination Maria, an employee of Latino decent feels she was unfairly eliminated for a promotion because of her distinct accent; she has filed a complaint alleging the company has engaged in discriminatory practices.
Evaluation
Maria is a good employee but is often loud and aggressive in her approach to co-workers and supervisors. The employee record shows there were problems with tardiness and attendance and twice supervisors for these infractions have counseled her. Maria has pointed out that she is the only Latino, person of color and woman in her department and states a supervisor stated she was not promoted because he feared clients would have trouble understanding her accent. Maria has been with the company for ten years and in her current position for seven. She holds a graduate degree and claims her low evaluations reflect a built in bias by her white male supervisors. Despite the fact that Alex, who too holds a graduate degree, has less time with the company, he had better performance evaluations than Maria and was offered the promotion. The company is admitting that Maria’s accent was a factor in their decision but claim it they did not discriminate against Maria by not offering her the promotion related to her accent alone. The company also states that clear communication was an essential component of the job in question, but was it the only component needed. What does Maria do well that could have superseded this essential component? The company may have thought they were not discriminating against Maria but by acknowledging and then stating she was not being promoted solely based on the trouble of understanding her accent, the company has indeed engaged in discriminatory practices and I feel Maria may have a valid argument, and
References: United States Census Bureau. (2014). Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by Sex, Race Alone or in Combination, and Hispanic Origin for the United States, States, and Counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013. Retrieved from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk