Is this job discrimination???

Question

So I work at resort. One of my managers informed me the other day that the resort manager said that they were iffy on hiring me because I wasn't an older hispanic woman.
That offended me. I am very good at my job ( I am a housekeeping manager) and I absolutely love the housekeeping world/customer service.

Today we started an incentive program. On the walkie talkie radio our resort manager specifically requested that a "WHITE ENGLISH SPEAKING" housekeeper clean a certain room...

I earlier in the day chose one of our hispanic ladies to clean the room because she does a great job and I felt like her work should be rewarded...

The resort manager supposedly makes snide little comments here and there when not in front of our entire housekeeping staff. I feel also there is some segregation going on because when the resort opened he hired 75% hispanic based on stereotype...

I want to report these actions...but am wondering if this is indeed a form of job discrimination. Thank You!

Answer 1

well if you are willing to report these instances as you have viewed them (racial discrimination) horray!! for you. i only say that insulate yourself with other people meaning; make sure their are others who share your views and seen what you have seen and able to give account of occurance if necessary. also a list of those who have been discriminated against also ready with accounts of occurances, but while you do this , you must be dotting your As and crossing your Ts. meanig they will be searching for excuses to use in retaliation and possibly fire. if you have enuf evidence from you and yours, a class action suit definitely addresses the dept as opposed to just a few co- workers making noise. god bless. you are certainly a trooper, but mediate on this to make sure it is right.

Answer 2

Any type of discrimination is difficult at best to prove. Regarding things that are said by management, such as the request or demand of a white English speaking person to clean a certain room... You violated the "wishes" of management and placed yourself at risk. It may very well have been a request or a demand from a paying customer to only allow a white English speaking person to clean their room - which, as a customer, they have every right to do. For the period of time the customer "rents" the room, it is their room, and they have every right to decide who does and does not enter their place of temporary residence. While you may have "heard" something on the radio, you certainly could not "see" what was happening. Don't be so quick to judge what is happening...

Regarding your statement that you almost didn't get the job because you weren't Hispanic... May have been a misnomer, in that, with 75% of the housekeeping staff being Hispanic, do you honestly think the hotel would be wise to hire someone who could not speak the language of the majority of the housekeeping staff? I know that if I had a large percentage of employees who spoke very little to no English, I would think very long and hard before I hired a supervisor who spoke no Spanish. That's not discrimination - that's a wise business solution.

Answer 3

It could be discrimination.

When a workforce is so unbalanced among gender and ethnicity, it is very likely that there is some discrimination in the hiring practices. You can file an EEOC complaint and then it is the employer's burden to prove that no discrimination happened and that the make up of the workforce is acceptable.

For example: if 90% of the applicants are older hispanic women, you might end up with a predominantly female hispanic staff. BUT it is the management's job to show that all applicants were considered equally based on ability, etc. If the management is hiring completely unqualified people simply based on ethnicity, then it is considered discriminatory.

The snide comments could be contributing to a hostile work environment which is another EEOC issue.

Answer 4

He might have made the "White English Speaking" comment, because one of the resort's guests was complaining and he wanted to make that person happy. I've seen it happen. It makes sense since you say they only want to hire hispanic women.

However, the fact that he told you that they didn't want to hire you because you weren't a Hispanic woman, you may have a claim. Discuss this with someone from your state's labor relations.

Answer 5

It sounds like job descrimination but I also wonder if he is hiring illegal aliens to work there and is afraid you may figure that out. If this resort is owned by a large corporation you can contact them about the descrimination pollicies as well as hiring policies also. It may be that he has a fixed budget for that resort and what he doesn't pay in wages goes into his pocket so better to hire illegal hispanics who will work for less for fear of being deported if found out.

Answer 6

The comments, if they can be proven that they are happening, might be grounds for it. Otherwise, unless his whole staff is not differentiated in demographics, then that may not be the sole grounds for discrimination. The comments sound like a problem that needs to be addressed, I am just not sure who you would contact....fair wage and labor? Corporate HQ?