A local employer confides to you that she secretly does Internet searches of app

Question

A local employer confides to you that she secretly does Internet searches of applicants before she calls them in for interviews. She tells you that she has a very established clientele and needs to make sure her new employees "fit in". She's particularly concerned about people with visible tattoos and piercings, but explains that she's also on the lookout for bad grammar, handicaps, and people with gray hair. She explains "my customers expect a fresh, 'All-American' look here. My employees look like the boy or girl next door".

Is she breaking any laws?

If so, which ones and how?

Can she legally avoid hiring people with any of these characteristics?

Explanation / Answer

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) prohibits discrimination based on protected characteristics such as race, nationality, sex, age, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, rataliation for reporting or opposing a discriminatory practice. In this case, the employer screen candidates based on handicaps and gray hair, which is a potential discriminatory practice that violates the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and American Disability Act of 1990.

She can legally avoid hiring people with certain characteristics such as tattooes and piercings, abd bad grammar, if she has a reason that these characteristics violate the Bona-fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ). However, she cannot legally discriminate people based on gray hair (which indicates racial discrimination) and people for their disabiliity. As an employer she is expected not to discriminate people based on their handicaps and to make reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities.

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