Outstanding claims of discrimination on any company would impact how I feel about a company. Claims suggest to an outsider potential wrongdoing or discrimination which could feed into a bigger company culture problem. If one of my favourite company’s had discrimination claims I would be likely to first ignore the fact, because they are my favourite company after all. I would likely turn a blind eye in the first instance and put it down to bad luck. If more claims started to appear, I would then start to pay more attention to them all and my viewpoint would most likely change. In this situation I would change my viewpoint to more a negative association and would likely stop investing into the company and their products or services. I would also decide against applying to work for that company as it is not a culture that I wish to be affiliated with. I want to work for a company with a good company culture than treats their employees well and as equals.
I think this highlights the importance of public perception and employee satisfaction. For a company to be successful and remain successful, they must treat all employees fairly and well thus building employee satisfaction. If employees are satisfied and feel treated as equals, they are more likely to work more productively with higher levels of engagement. The public will interpret this level of employee satisfaction and make their consumer decisions on this basis, whether positive or negative. People, like myself, are attracted to companies with ethical values and standards that align with my own which further highlights the importance of remaining ethical and treating your employees as equals to one another.