4 ms·
I am not a lawyer. I wish you would not have looked. The question you need to ask is will their political views impede their ability to do the job requirements.
by Agustus 16y ago
I am not a lawyer. I wish you would not have looked. The question you need to ask is will their political views impede their ability to do the job requirements. If they do, you have a legitimate concern, if they do not, you would fall into the Civil Rights Act of 1964: "The Act requires the elimination of artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary barriers to employment that operate invidiously to discriminate on the basis of race, and, if, as here, an employment practice that operates to exclude Negroes cannot be shown to be related to job performance, it is prohibited, notwithstanding the employer's lack of discriminatory intent."
- waterside81 16y agoOh no doubt, discrimination as a result of this information would be dead wrong (and likely illegal). Like I said, we will hire this person because they are very talented, enthusiastic, etc. I think you're right; I kind of wish I hadn't looked.
- fgf 16y agoyou might have found at anyway, and now, at least, you can avoid the subject
- c1sc0 16y agoWhile all of that is nice & dandy, in the real world discrimination does exist. I know I'm guilty of it & I simply consider this as something you cannot rule out, just like bias in journalism. The law in these cases is often just wishful thinking. My favorite 2 questions: Can he/she do the job? Would you enjoy spending time with him/her outside of the office? If it's someone I'd get in a fight with every time we go out for a few beers then that's a no-hire.
- bmj 16y agoQuestion #1 is far more important than question #2. In fact, I'd argue question #2 shouldn't even be asked. I work with some folks who are very, very good at their jobs, and I get on with them well enough during work hours, but I have zero interest in engaging them outside of work (and it has little to do with political preferences). Personally, I think it's sorta sad that as a culture, we've allowed political differences to splinter relationships, professional or otherwise. I'm not suggesting that we can't disagree about politics, but it needn't be as divisive as it is.
- mikeryan 16y agoThis isn't how discrimination works in employment law. Discrimination is for the most part only relevant to those who fall under Protected Classes (age, gender, race etc). Political affiliation is not a protected class. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class
- xiaoma 16y agoA quick google search suggests that it's a bit more complicated than that. According to an employee rights attorney here (http://www.linkedin.com/answers/law-legal/employment-labor-law/LAW_ELW/449714-9356514 http://www.linkedin.com/answers/law-legal/employment-labor-l...): "I will answer based on CA law. Labor Code 1101 and 1102 prohibit employers from forbidding, directing, controlling, terminating or threatening to terminate an employee based on politics. This was further expanded on in Ali v. LA Focus Publication (2003) 112 CA4th 1477. "