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Sunday, October 16, 2011

An Interesting Insight -- Discrimination against the Unemployed

One of the provisions in president Obama's Jobs package was to outlaw discrimination against the unemployed. Unemployed workers who were passed over for hiring due to their unemployed status could sue for damages. Bloomberg columnist Carolyn Baum completely demolishes that provision in a piece today. Here is the salient point: "How would the crafters of the jobs bill expect a reasonable businessman to behave when confronted with the prospect of a discrimination suit for failing to hire an unemployed applicant? He wouldn’t even grant that candidate an interview, according to Kenneth Langone, the founder of Home Depot Inc."

Baum is totally correct. Why take the risk of being sued by granting the unemployed person an interview? The proposed law would make it harder for the unemployed to get a job, not easier.

1 comment:

hotpanera said...

Presumably not granting an interview could also give rise to lawsuits claiming it was due to the plaintiff being unemployed. It's a very dumb provision to be sure. Just a little more help for the trial lawyers, the economy and the unemployed be damned.