4 ms·
As long as they don't put it in writing, there would be no case. People are not hired or fired for illegal reasons all the time. You just don't state those reas
by DigitalJack 14y ago
As long as they don't put it in writing, there would be no case. People are not hired or fired for illegal reasons all the time. You just don't state those reasons.
If it is due to blatantly obvious handicaps, that's a different story. But good luck proving you we're passed over because the employer figured out you have headaches.
- majormajor 14y agoSo this hypothetical Narrative Data company would have a largely-illegal business plan, and nobody would notice? There wouldn't be any whistleblowers? People would be willing to contract their HR stuff out to them? In my view, there's a pretty bright line between the described business and today's background check companies.
- jbigelow76 14y ago>So this hypothetical Narrative Data company would have a largely-illegal business plan, and nobody would notice? What are they doing that's illegal? You aren't applying for a job with them so they aren't the ones who passed you over for "somebody who's a better fit".
- rdtsc 14y agoThere is illegal and un-ethical. Sometimes there is a fine line but often most people involved realize what that line is and they hang out just outside of it without stepping over. Imagine a meeting with HR. Company is racist. They never really made it into an official police of course but just by joking or sort of non verbal communication they figure out that other higher ups hate certain races. They will talk about so and so's personality "not matching". It is fairly easy for them to figure out an euphemism used to signal this or that other person needs to be let go because their race isn't "right". Let's call it "personality reasons" or say "restructuring reason". It doesn't matter as long as it never officially put into writing. It would be an uphill battle to successfully sue for discrimination. One would need to compile historical data and show that people of a particular race have been consistently not hired or laid off once hired.
- ShabbyDoo 14y agoDidn't LinkedIn originally offer HR recruiters some version of their system which didn't show photos so that they wouldn't be worried about the liability of violating US discrimination laws by using headshots to bypass minorities? This suggests that HR departments would fear the purchase of legally prohibited data types.
- hudibras 14y agoUntil everybody at the hiring meeting is interviewed by the EEOC or the meeting notes are subpoenaed.
- mikeash 14y agoIndividual instances can be difficult to prove, but a systematic effort to discriminate based on these things should not be hard to detect within a decently sized company.
- plorkyeran 14y agoEspecially given this hypothetical super data miner. If companies can use Narrative Data to avoid hiring people who suffer from migraines, then it should be even easier to use Narrative Data to show that they're intentionally doing so.
- makomk 14y agoUnfortunately, the courts in many countries don't accept this as evidence of discrimination.
- yuhong 14y agoPersonally I think these laws are probably fundamentally flawed for a while now.