Week 2 Blog: Experiences with Discrimination

Would the outstanding claims of discrimination change the way you felt about the company? Would it influence your decisions to support that company? Would it change whether or not you applied to work for that company in the future? Why or why not?

If my favorite company, in this we could say Bethesda, was exposed as having been discriminatory towards a group I identify with, it would vastly reduce their standing in my eyes. While I would still appreciate some of the products they have produced and I have enjoyed over the years, I would no longer consider the company behind the product as being worthy of particular praise or support. If anyone, whether it be an individual or company, is going to actively disparage, demean, or put down people who are like me, it seems only fair that I at the very least no longer actively back them or recommend them or their products to my friends and family. In many ways it is very disheartening to think that any business would actively engage in such an unethical manner, as typical business sense suggests risking alienating any group of customers, or employees for that matter, is just going to backfire.

Given how it is usually bad for business to be discriminatory, it suggests that whomever was responsible for the discriminatory practices were, at best, doing so in a state of serious ignorance, or, at worst, being knowingly prejudiced. In either case it likely that not only would it be bad to support them, but not a place I would be interested in working for period. After all, if they have a history of discrimination against people like me, doesn’t it suggest that I will struggle to do well in that environment? I, like most applicants I believe, want to go far in whatever role I would be applying to. If my potential achievements are being hindered by an attribute outside of my control, then it is probably wiser to look elsewhere for employment.

-Tanner Brannan