I'm not quite getting how this is "discriminatory"; there's a local Irish theme pub here with an Irish manager and most of the staff over the last 20 years have been Irish. No-one's complained that I know of. "The owner of a Welsh bar in New York has been fined £1,600 for race discrimination after trying to hire staff with a 'knowledge of British culture'. Ex-pat Michael Colbert, 54, was hauled up in front of a human rights commission after advertising for new staff with an interest in Britain. The landlord placed a job advert for the Longbow - the only Welsh pub in the Big Apple - looking for bar tenders with a knowledge of the UK. But he was accused of discrimination with the city's authorities claiming he is being unfair to workers of different nationalities. Michael and his American wife Jennifer couple had been due to take their case to court. But they agreed in a pre-trial conference to pay a fine of $2,500 (£1,600) issued by New York City's Commission of Human Rights. Part of the agreement also stipulates that the couple and their staff have to undergo anti-discrimination training within the next 120 days. In a statement the couple said: Free speech is not so free after all it seems'. Michael said: 'We advertised for someone with a knowledge of Britain and Wales, the culture and the differences we have. We are looking for people with a certain skill set who will create the right atmosphere for people walking in. To create that nuanced Welsh thing within the pub. But somewhere along the writing of the advert we fell a foul of the authorities.'" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2345741/Welsh-pub-New-York-FINED-race-discrimination-advertising-bar-staff-knowledge-British-culture.html#
America, land of the free. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but was this guy fined for wanting qualified workers in his Welsh Bar?
He was fined for wanting workers with a knowledge of British culture. Still trying to work out why he was ordered to attend anti-discrimination training.
Well, there really is not enough in this story to make a judgement that would mean anything because without a look at the applicants rejected you cannot determine much, otherwise. In contemporary United States, no population has the market on being British if you are considering knowledge of the UK and things British. You might make an "assumption" of who may be qualified but assuming is famous for resulting in making arses of you and me. See you are acursed of me because I was not allowed name removal from the forum, so I may pop up at any given moment to benefit an issue of my choosing. :whip:
Doubtful this would occur anywhere but NYC. There are likely more civil liberties lawyers in NY state per capita than anywhere else in the country. Funny living in South East Texas I see many ad's demanding applicants be bi-lingual or speakers of Spanish. Must speak Spanish to work in my country, really? Nope no discrimination here! Truth be told I do understand the need, but it goes to show some locations are just plain crazy about not offending somebody.
NYC and this sort of politically-correct BS makes me sick. And don't forget that as a US taxpayer, some of your money is going to fund this. Its your business, and you should be able to hire who you want (provided that it is within reason). In this case, the owners wanted people knowledgeable about the UK for a Welsh-themed pub. Nowhere did it say "only Welsh may apply". I fail to see an issue here. The statement from the "consul to the Human Rights Commissioner" is more discriminatory than what the pub did. I quote: "There's an argument that someone who works in a Chinese restaurant, for example, may need to speak Chinese in order to communicate with their co-workers.". That assumes that people who work in Chinese restaurants are all Chinese, only speak Chinese, will not 'mix' well with a non-Chinese speaker, and cannot understand English. Maybe its time to drag this fellow in for some anti-discrimination 'training'. Whats next? A Broadway show being fined for only hiring "experienced actors", or the Spanish Embassy ordered to undergo 'anti-discrimination training' for hiring only Spanish nationals?
New York City. There is governmental discrimination in the US still, only you must be white and male to be a recipient.
It has nothing to do with any applicants that were rejected, heck, they may not have gotten any applicants at all. It has to do with their advert for for hiring new employees in which they wrote and This is a clear violation of The New York City Human Rights Law. From 8-107, section 1 My two cents is that NYC was looking to make a quick buck, and so slapped a hefty fine on a bar that is incapable of fighting the legal battle necessary to void the confiction.
George Patton, You should have finished Cliff Mulqueen's quote Also, Broadway shows, nor their casting agents(OK, maybe most) are not dumb enough to state that in any hirings. Discrimination is much harder & time consuming to prove, when you don't clearly state it in your ad. Finally, foreign embassies are immune to most locals laws.
My analysis of the quote was not done with regards to NYC's anti-discrimination laws, it was done with regards to what I feel to be common sense. If you are reading it word-for-word, yes, this is a clear violation of NYC's convoluted laws, and is entirely legal and thus correct in the legal sense. As I said before, this politically-correct BS has gotten way out of hand. I did not copy the rest of Mulqueen's quote because it was irrelevant to the point I was trying to make. Even with the last bit, all four of the points I raised remain valid (with the possible exception of the first one, but implying that workers in Chinese restaurants only speak Chinese does imply that they are exclusively Chinese workers -- is 'stereotyping' a better word to use than 'discrimination'?). On the topic of embassies and consulates, yes, they are immune from essentially all local laws, but lawsuits have been filed - or have been threatened - for violation of 'human rights' charters. For instance, a quick google search turned up this one about discriminated Indian employees of the Italian Embassy suing the Italian government. Note that I am not commenting that the behavior of the Italian Embassy is acceptable in any way (it isn't), I'm merely pointing out that embassies have been sued for 'human rights' issues before. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-03-24/news/37981330_1_italian-embassy-nationality-racial-discrimination. Furthermore, despite the severity of NYC's human rights code, many of its topics are shared with international human rights codes (at the UN and national levels), meaning that prosecution can certainly occur since many issues are not limited to 'local law'. --- To continue on my rant: ignoring NYC's convoluted code of human rights, I fail to see how "Being British definitely works in your favour" is discrimination in the "real world". Its fairly obvious that if you are looking to hire someone "knowledgeable" about Britain or who "respects British culture", being British yourself will work in your favour. Going by Mulqueen's statement, they were sued for stating this, which is essentially stating the obvious. If this is what is now deemed to be 'discrimination', this shows a major part of what is wrong with our society today. Also, isn't Britain now a quite diverse society? On top of that, her empire once covered most of the world. Which people is this discriminating against? For example, Indians and Pakistanis can (if they wish) certainly argue that they were at one time British, as can many African countries and other former colonies (even the US can, though I'm not sure that any American would ever say it). Of course, this says nothing about the dozens of different cultural groups that call Britain home that likely cover every nation on the planet.
Those guys want knowlege in British culture? Go to school and they could apply too. . This has nothing to do with race and other countries . It's a matter of having a dry sense of humor, and lifting a finger when drinking tea, not being English or not. Good thing they weren't around when the Duke of York ruled the city they would have fined him too for naming the City York and discriminating against the Dutch ......
George, if the Bar wanted some one knowledgeable in Welsh...They should have written the ad in Welsh. This would almost certainly guarantee that they would have gotten the prospective employees that they were looking for, and it would have been done legally. I guess that there are laws against stupidity(OK maybe that is too harsh a word) naivete.
Exactly why anyone in their right mind would want to live in NYC is entirely beyond me anyway. NYC is a mini-Fascist city-state intent on controlling everything, and I mean everything. Bloomberg perfectly fits the Nazi mold. Picking on pubs that NEED to hire workers with the proper background of British Culture is something that Bloomberg and His Stromtroopers LOVE to attack! It's beyond PC, it is pure Fascism! Unfortunately, NYC is only the tip of the iceberg. The whole Federal government is rapidly taking on these same Fascist fundamentals.
Call me crazy, but if I go to a Mexican restaurant I'd prefer it to be staffed by jenuwine Mexicans - and the same with Chinese, Thai, French or Welsh establishments. You're going there to eat that food, drink that wine/beer and soak in that culture, right? The rules are only in place to punish the perceived enemy of his political base. I suppose he'll attack Hooters next for not hiring enough elderly gay men.
Still can't see the problem myself. The ad wasn't worded any differently to every other ad I've ever seen which says "relevant qualifications and/or experience in a related environment is an advantage in this post".
They do...They are called "cook" and "dishwasher." Those that I have been to almost always have male kitchen staff.
Really? I have been looking at many want ads lately and not one has said that "being (X nationality) definitely works in your favor." With tongue planted firmly in cheek, I thought "being British" was only a relevant qualification for butlers.
That's fine, but I want the server who brings me my over-priced shrimp fiesta bowl and badly made cocktail to be young and perky and big-breasted. And female. And if I go to a Welsh pub, I want the bartender to be a pasty white guy who serves me cheap whiskey in a slightly dirty glass, without throwing ice in the damned thing.
