Lack of Diversity, Discrimination Can Cause Mental Health Issues, Study Notes

A story in today's Legal Industry News by KCJ News Service states that many minority workers 'feel discriminated against'

Employment law developments to promote diversity in the workplace may not be having the desired effect, as many people from minority backgrounds still feel they are being discriminated against, it has been claimed. According to a study by Business in the Community (BitC), the majority of individuals from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups believe they have been overlooked for promotion at least once.

Basically, the study found white British workers average almost four promotions during their careers, compared with 2.5 advancements for those of African, Indian or Pakistani descent, while many staff members from minorities feel they have a lack of support from their managers.

"The survey highlights evidence of racial discrimination, with African and Caribbean workers particularly feeling discriminated against," the BitC report stated, with one in four African workers and one in seven from the Caribbean saying they have been treated unfairly.

Recently, it was stated by the Mental Health Foundation that discrimination is also a problem for people who suffer from mental health issues.

Makes sense to me. We still aren't "there" when it comes to diversity. Just a few days ago, I posted a story about a major university in Missouri that refuses to ensure students receive diversity training. What are these professors afraid of?

Is it really a wonder that this can become a mental health issue for some people?

In my new eBook, Cashing In On Diversity, I tell a true story about a recent California Supreme Court decision involving an experienced engineer who went to work for a giant corporation (the kind of company that one would think comprehends and practices diversity).

This engineer knew that going into a high-tech job would mean working in a youthful company, with fewer older workers. But he didn’t expect mistreatment he received by younger workers, including his boss, who immediately started called him names like “fuddy-duddy” and “old man,” he alleged.

The engineer, who had worked successfully for years in major corporations, was suddenly being taunted with words, including "slow," "fuzzy," "sluggish" and "lethargic." Employees allegedly called him an "old guy" and stated that his ideas were "obsolete" and "too old to matter" and that his knowledge was “ancient.”

They allegedly joked that his office placard should be in the shape of an "LP" (i.e. a vinyl record) rather than the customary (then current music format) "CD." For several years this inappropriate behavior progressed, the engineer alleged, and after a time, when his job was taken away, he left this company, but then sued for age discrimination.

While the case had not been settled at the time I read about it, the court issued a unanimous decision that could make it more difficult for California employers to win summary judgment in certain discrimination cases involving potentially discriminatory comments.

In fact, California courts must now evaluate such “stray” remarks together with all other admissible evidence to determine whether there is sufficient evidence of discrimination for a case to proceed to a jury trial.

This decision reaffirms that employers must do more than simply maintain policies preventing discrimination and harassment. They must take steps, including training of supervisors and non-supervisors alike, to ensure all employees are aware of such policies and the risk of liability posed by potentially discriminatory comments, in any context. In other words, they must learn to manage their company’s diversity.

This story left me wondering who raised these young employees to show such meanness and hostility toward an older, experienced co-worker? Did any professors ever discuss diversity at their schools? Or multiculturalism? Good manners? And what kind of managers and CEO led this company? Had they ever experienced any leadership education?

The failure to raise someone who tolerates people who are different, or who values the very skills and experiences others may have to offer, no matter how “different” they appear to be, has to land somewhere.

Someone failed these employees quite miserably, either their parents, teachers or employers. Perhaps all of the above tried and failed. I hope this book will help fill in gaps that are apparently missing for those who behave in this way and for others who tolerate or encourage this misbehavior, as well.

We are a diverse nation filled with people of many sizes, shapes, ages, religions and sexual preferences — people with missing limbs, stutters, mental challenges and so many other differences.

But too many of us still do not always recognize that all people are deserving of equal treatment. Or that even with “differences,” nearly all of us still have something to contribute, if allowed to participate. As the battles heat up at school and at work, and as the civil rights lawsuits keep piling up, isn’t it about time to change?

Diversity Briefings Newsletter: 11/09/2010

Today’s New Diversity Topics: Battle Over Jail VS Mental Health Heats Up in Orleans Parish, New Immigration Judges Sworn In, Diversity in Law Firms Takes a 'Hit', Does Real Diversity Mean We’re All the Same? (Surely Not),  Still Another Bullied 14-Year-Old Commits Suicide,  Guy Or a Girl? Issue a Sticky Wicket On Some Campuses, Spice and Chai Down Under, New Buddhist University in Glasgow,Management Diversity Tip: Incorporating Diversity Requires Skill

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Welcome to Diversity Briefings: 11/09/2010

Volume 1, Issue 14. Published Each Monday - Friday

Welcome back to Diversity Briefings. I hope you are enjoying these diversity stories and links. Please feel free to resend this Diversity newsletter on to friends and colleagues. If you would like to subscribe to receive daily updates, the form for Diversity Briefings is below. Also, if you have some extra time, take a look at the newdiversity and multicultural  glossary, upper left on this blog site. Take Care and Good Reading!

Susan Klopfer, editor and publisher

P.S. Free gift offer inside today's issue!
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Orleans Parish: More and Bigger Jails?

Jordan Flaherty reports in today's Huffington Post, the battle is hearing up in the Orleans Parish. With 3,500 beds in a city of about 350,000 residents, the Parish Prison (OPP) is already the largest per capita county jail of any major US city. The elected official with oversight over the jail has submitted plans for an even larger complex. But a broad coalition wants what would be spent on a larger jail be diverted to alternatives to incarceration, like drug treatment programs and mental health facilities. And yet here may be a common ground, some leaders say. Read on --

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordan-flaherty/the-incarceration-capital_b_781150.html

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New Immigration Judges Sworn In

DOJ reports Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler recently invested 23 new immigration judges during a ceremony held at the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s (EOIR) headquarters, marking a roughly 10 percent increase in the judges corps in just one day. Immigration judges conduct formal court proceedings to determine whether an individual from a foreign country should be allowed to remain in the United States. This story continues --

http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/1055

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Diversity in Law Firms Takes a 'Hit'

Employment statistics are showing that diversity practiced by law firms is taking a hit, thanks to recession — but the pain isn’t being spread to all firms evenly, says Elie Mystal. "The latest NALP figures show that minorities accounted for 12.4% of firm attorneys, down from 12.59% in 2009. Women represented 32.69% of firm attorneys, down from 32.97% in 2009." More figures and analyses --

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/11/diversity-issues-to-consider-before-you-accept-your-offer/

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Real Diversity Means We’re Not All the Same? Yes or No?

Some 45 years after Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, race relations in the U.S. remain difficult at best. "We have the right to drink from the same fountains, ride on the same buses, live in the same neighborhoods, attend the same schools, hold the same jobs and pursue the same dreams, but much still is not right," notes James Badham in a piece he writes for Miller McCune magazine. Continued  --

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/11/diversity-issues-to-consider-before-you-accept-your-offer/

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Still Another Bullied 14-Year-Old Commits Suicide

From the New Civil Rights Movement Blog: Fourteen-year old Pennsylvania high school freshman Brandon Bitner wrote a suicide note, left home around 2:00 AM Friday morning, walked thirteen miles, then, threw himself into highway traffic, killing himself. A friend says, “It was because of bullying. It was not about race, or gender, but they bullied him for his sexual preferences and the way he dressed. Which they wrongly accused him of.” Here is more --

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/bullied-14-year-old-called-gay-girly-fag-commits-suicide/news/2010/11/08/14890

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Male, Female, Or? Issue a Sticky Wicket on Some Campuses

From Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- When Kevin Murphy entered as a freshman at Mount Holyoke, a Massachusetts women's college, in 2003, he was female. By the time he received his diploma, he was male...Defining gender on same-sex campuses has become murky as ... More schools are encountering complicated cases where not all students at men's colleges identify as male and not all students at women's colleges identify as female.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/11/08/single.sex.college.trangender.nongender/index.html?iref=allsearch

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Spice, Chai, Lights and Rhythms at ‘Parramasala’ in SydneyFrom Cultural Diversity News: The Indian community in Sydney is proud to have taken the Australia-India cultural relationship to a new level with Parramasala being the first ever South-Asian Cultural Festival in Sydney. Continued--

http://www.culturaldiversity.net.au/

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Receive a free inspirational quote every day from me. Just visit

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for information. Lots of my friends are enjoying this free gift.

Susan

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Britain’s first Buddhist College is to open at Glasgow University.

The Buddhist College UK will be modelled on the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, the Venerable Rewatha’s home country. The Venerable Rewatha, also Buddhist Chaplain to Glasgow University. said: “The course will provide an academic approach to Buddhism and open up inter-faith dialogue in Scotland. Setting up the college is a great achievement and I am delighted to be part of it.” Read More --

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=3,9657,0,0,1,0

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Diversity Management Tip of the Day

Incorporating Diversity Management Requires Skill

Susan Klopfer

It sounded so good back in graduate school when Karen took a class in diversity management. The professor had kept everyone's attention as he lectured on this new business practice. Now her boss of two years, at the regional bank, is suggesting Karen may be asked to oversee a transition team to move the bank from affirmative action and valuing differences to a focus on managing diversity.

He tells her that bank board members, the CEO and several key executives are seriously concerned about this project, after two key new-hires recently left their positions. It was expensive to recruit them and there had been high hopes these two college superstars would easily move through the bank's executive training program. "So, do you know why Miss Morales and Mr. Diego left?" Karen asks.

"Well, I did hear they were speaking Spanish together at lunch and someone came up and complained that they didn't care about their co-workers if they didn't speak English at work," her boss says.

"Oh, brother," Karen says, shaking her head. "Why didn't that person ask for Spanish lessons − and take advantage of their ability to speak several languages?

Keep reading --

http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Susan-Klopfer-7986/cultural-diversity-119408.php

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