Are Iowa hiring practices discriminatory? or applicants don’t qualify?

NBC 12 – 02/17/12 – Ryan J. Foley, Associated Press

“Denied Jobs, blacks in Iowa test new bias theory”

http://www.nbc12.com/story/16957217/denied-jobs-blacks-in-iowa-test-new-bias-theory

After years of litigation, a judge will soon decide whether to grant thousands of black employees and job applicant’s monetary damages for hiring practices used by every agency of Iowa state government that they say has disadvantaged them for decades.

The plaintiffs - up to 6,000 African-Americans passed over for state jobs and promotions dating back to 2003 - do not say they faced overt racism or discriminatory hiring tests in Iowa, a state that is 91 percent white. Instead, their lawyers argue that managers subconsciously favored whites across state government, leaving blacks at a disadvantage in decisions over who got interviewed, hired and promoted.

Vilsack's successor, Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, issued an executive order requiring agencies to improve the diversity of the workforce. State officials called that evidence of progress, but class lawyers argued it turned out to be ineffective because rules meant to prevent bias still were not followed.

In a brief submitted in December, plaintiffs' lawyers sought lost wages of about $67 million minus what they earned in the meantime.

Common Sense Review

This is not about Equality, it is about Money.  There isn’t enough information to decide why these people were not hired due to their race.  Background Check, Credit Check, Experience, etc. are all factors for hire.

 

However, the key that focuses on this suit is about money comes from the Plaintiffs own attorney’s brief that states the clients are seeking $67 million in lost wages minus what they earned in the meantime.  What?!?! 

The suit is regarding the issue of discrimination.  However the brief basically assumes the people would get the jobs if race was not considered.  Well wait a minute, there is not guarantee that these people would have gotten the job, but for their race. 

 There are too many questions without answers.  How many white, Asian, Hispanic people were not hired or advance for promotion in the state of Iowa since 2003? 

Now in 2007, Gov. Culver’s executive order instructed agencies to create a more diverse workforce.  How many black, Hispanic, Asians, and whites were hired in the 4 years from the executive order?  How many turned away?