{"id":13146,"date":"2011-02-07T03:32:07","date_gmt":"2011-02-07T08:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=13146"},"modified":"2011-02-07T05:19:57","modified_gmt":"2011-02-07T10:19:57","slug":"what-would-you-do-if-you-saw-someone-discriminate-against-a-deaf-job-applicant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/02\/07\/what-would-you-do-if-you-saw-someone-discriminate-against-a-deaf-job-applicant\/","title":{"rendered":"What Would You Do If You Saw Someone Discriminate Against a Deaf Job Applicant?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Would You Do If You Saw Someone Discriminate Against a Deaf Job
\nApplicant?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hidden Cameras Reveal Bystanders’ Reactions When Discrimination Is Staged<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Two young women walk into a coffee shop to apply for a job in the kitchen
\nwhen something strange happens: the manager seems oddly reluctant to let
\nthem fill out an application. Then, in full view of customers, out it comes:
\nthe real reason the manager isn’t interested in hiring them? They are deaf.<\/p>\n

It’s a shocking violation of the law, or it would be if this weren’t an
\nepisode of “What Would You Do?” The manager and the deaf job applicants are
\nactors. Of course the customers don’t know that. How will they respond to a
\ndisplay of the kind of discrimination this country outlawed two decades ago?<\/p>\n

This special WWYD was developed with the help of students and administrators
\nat the Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for
\nthe Deaf, in Rochester, N.Y. It is the world’s first and largest technical
\ncollege for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.<\/p>\n

In an interview at the college, student Brenna DeBartolo said, “I have a lot
\nof respect for people who aren’t deaf, for people who are hearing. At the
\nsame time, it would be nice for them to think about, ‘What is it like to be
\na deaf person?’ I mean, how would they like to go into a place and want to
\napply for a job and then be discriminated against just because of who you
\nare?”<\/p>\n

Although they’re still in college, many NTID students already have an idea
\nof the difficulties they may face in the workplace. Maya Ariel told WWYD
\nthat when she applied for part-time jobs in the past, “one or two places
\nnever called me back.”<\/p>\n

“From what I found out, they didn’t call me back because I was deaf,” she
\nsaid, speaking thorough a sign language interpreter.<\/p>\n

Hannah Worek’s parents are deaf. “My dad right now, he doesn’t have a job,”
\nWorek said. “He got laid off. He’s been looking for jobs and it’s hard
\nbecause you have to get an interpreter every time you do an interview.”<\/p>\n

The new president of NTID, Gerry Buckley, explains how employers are
\nsupposed to treat a deaf or hard-of-hearing job applicant (or any disabled
\napplicant, for that matter).<\/p>\n

“What should happen is that that deaf or hard-of-hearing person has an equal
\nopportunity to apply for the job, just like any person. The supervisor or
\nthe employer \u2026 interviews them with the same kind of questions and scrutiny
\nthat they interview anyone,” he said.<\/p>\n

The employer should “really look very specifically at their skills, related
\nto being able to perform the work functions,” Buckley said. “Questions
\nrelated to accommodations or costs associated with accommodations should be
\nset aside (to) focus on whether the person has the skills to do the job.”<\/p>\n

NTID is proud of its nearly 90 percent job placement record for graduates.
\nIt’s hard enough finding and keeping a job in today’s economy, but for those
\nwith a disability it is especially difficult. In January, the U.S. Equal
\nEmployment Opportunity Commission announced that allegations of workplace
\ndiscrimination hit an all-time high in 2010. The biggest increase came in
\nclaims from workers who say they were discriminated against because of a
\ndisability.<\/p>\n

It’s a problem many thought had become history more than 20 years ago when
\nPresident George H. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law
\nin 1990. The ADA says if a worker with a disability is qualified to perform
\nthe essential functions or duties of a job, even if they require reasonable
\naccommodation, they are protected from job discrimination.<\/p>\n

Discrimination against the disabled is usually hidden. It may happen behind
\nclosed office doors, or even in the mind of the employer who doesn’t want to
\nfollow the law. But two decades after the passage of the ADA, we wondered
\nhow regular people would respond if they could see the law flouted right in
\nfront of them. So with the owner’s permission, we outfitted SmartWorld
\nCoffee in Morristown, N.J. with hidden cameras and waited for the morning
\nrush.<\/p>\n

As the WWYD scenario got underway, NTID students Hannah Worek and Maya Ariel
\nplayed our job applicants. Another WWYD actor played the discriminating
\nmanager of a coffee shop in need of a kitchen worker. When the women walked
\ninto the shop and asked for an application, the manager blatantly announced
\nhe wasn’t hiring any deaf people.<\/p>\n

“I’m not going to hire a deaf person. I’m just letting you know. So we’ll
\nsave you some time. \u2026 I mean you’re deaf, it’s going to be really hard for
\nyou to work here,” he said.<\/p>\n

Many customers looking on told us afterwards they were shocked. Some said
\nthey planned to raise the issue later with the store owner. As the scene
\nrepeated again and again throughout the day, some customers stared, rolled
\ntheir eyes, or grimaced, but few openly objected to the outright
\ndiscrimination they witnessed.<\/p>\n

One striking exception was customer Gerald Tourgee. When he saw what was
\nhappening, he turned to the manager and said, “Excuse me, are you aware of
\nthe Equal Employment Opportunity laws? You just made a blanket statement
\nabout not hiring a deaf person. You’ve made it very clear you’re not hiring
\na deaf person. … If she takes the job and she’s not able to fulfill the
\nduties, that’s a different situation. But not to hire her because she’s
\ndeaf, that’s absolutely discriminatory!”<\/p>\n

After a long day of too many customers looking the other way, the outburst
\nwas welcomed by our actors. But other responses were less kind-hearted and
\nsome might shock you. Watch Friday night to see the surprising reactions of
\nsome people who are supposed to be employment experts: human resource
\nworkers and job recruiters.<\/p>\n

For More Information<\/p>\n

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces federal laws
\nprohibiting employment discrimination. Click here to find more details about
\nthe Americans with Disabilities Act from the EEOC.<\/p>\n

Video: (In case you miss on television)<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.hulu.com\/watch\/213121\/what-would-you-do-deaf-to-job-discrimination<\/a><\/p>\n

Article:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/WhatWouldYouDo\/witnessed-discrimination-deaf-job-applicants\/story?id=12822039<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Would You Do If You Saw Someone Discriminate Against a Deaf Job Applicant? Hidden Cameras Reveal Bystanders’ Reactions When Discrimination Is Staged Two young women walk into a coffee shop to apply for a job in the kitchen when…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[1557,114,3472,7951,4621,7945,7943,24,1205,1201,7946,7948,7947,1412,7942,7949,31,7950,1519,1409,416,32,192,1660,468,7903,7944],"class_list":["post-13146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-abc","tag-ada","tag-americans-with-disabilities-act","tag-applicant","tag-article","tag-audism","tag-bystander","tag-deaf","tag-discrimination","tag-eeoc","tag-employment-opportunity-commission","tag-equal-employment-opportunity","tag-gerald-tourgee","tag-hard-of-hearing","tag-hidden-camera","tag-human-resource-workers","tag-job","tag-job-recruiters","tag-national-technical-institute-for-the-deaf","tag-new-york","tag-ntid","tag-opportunity","tag-rochester","tag-rochester-institute-of-technology","tag-television","tag-what-would-you-do","tag-wwyd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-3q2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18374,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/04\/18\/wendys-in-texas-sued-for-refusing-to-hire-hearing-impaired-applicant\/","url_meta":{"origin":13146,"position":0},"title":"Wendy\u2019s in Texas Sued for Refusing to Hire Hearing-Impaired Applicant","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Wendy\u2019s in Texas Sued for Refusing to Hire Hearing-Impaired Applicant April 18, 2012 A franchisee of popular fast-food chain, Wendy\u2019s, will be facing a lawsuit for allegedly discriminating against a job applicant with a disability. 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