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 a company I do business with were to have a discrimination lawsuit it would of course affect the way I felt about the company. I work hard to only support companies that align with my values, so when I buy clothes, electronics, and do general business with people I tend to look into their company. I believe an easy way to describe this would be “vote with your money” and that is my view on consumer purchases and how I believe society should view companies as well. It would influence my support of the company completely; if a company I regularly bought from didn’t hire women, than I would stop buying from them. Considering I’m a women, I think it would be hypocritical to do business with that company, but more than that, if they we discriminating against other races than my own, even bigger problems come into play. We would be going backwards from the steps we have taken forward in discrimination.
I would not apply for a company that discriminates in any way. Its an interesting question, because there are many companies that do it and get away with it, simply because they hire various genders and races when it is necessary. But, I’d like to believe you would be able to pick up on it when you are interviewing, or even within the first few weeks. Of course, depending on your financial position you may not have a choice in the matter, but there is always opportunity to change things, so I would then say to do your best and be your best. The short answer is I would quit if I discovered discrimination within the workplace and honestly I think most people would, because if a company discriminates they probably do a number of other things that you don’t agree with either.
3 replies on “Experience with Discrimination”
Isabel,
I think its great that you put extra effort to make sure that when you spend, it is going to companies that have values in line with your own. With the internet and how fast news spreads today, I think it makes it very easy for us to be able to research companies in depth before looking to apply there to make sure it is a company you’d really want to work for.
I think when it comes to discrimination it’s easier to get up and walk away when it’s in an interview or before actually working there. But I some people may face potential challenges in these situations as they may be unable to quit right then and there due to financial reasons or maybe they’re worried of retaliation if they report the discriminatory behavior.
I enjoyed reading your post this week!
Kayla
Hi Isabel,
I like how you point out that shopping at a company is like “voting with your money”. In the political world, we vote people in/out of office when we agree/disagree with the choices they’re making. How do we make that same point with a company? By choosing to support/not support their business.
I also like that you said supporting a business that is actively discriminating against a group would be going against steps we have taken to move away from discrimination. Like we learned in our lecture this week, forms of discrimination we explicit and even accepted until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 starting taking slow steps to protect individuals. It seems that society has come even further in the last ten years or so as we become more accepting of individual’s differences.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Courtney Seton
Hi Isabel,
I really like your comment, “vote with your money.” I agreed with your statements and would also not support a company that did not align with my values, but this quote is a really intriguing way to think about it! Great post!