Several heuristics may be the underlying reason why the co-worker decided not to hire the Hispanic Woman despite being more than qualified for the job as far as her credentials are concerned. His decision might be explained by the representative heuristic, which involves forming impressions or making judgments about someone after comparing him or her to people with similar characteristics (Koning, 2007). He might have held the idea that people speaking with a Spanish accent are unintelligent.
His decision might also have been influenced by the attitude heuristic, wherein a specific issue is applied to a positive or negative category based one one’s attitude on the subject (Aronson, 1999 cited in Koning 2007). Using this heuristic, it can be deduced that he probably has a negative attitude or a prejudice towards women. Maybe he thinks that women lack leadership qualities so they are incapable of holding a managerial position.
(2) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that discriminating against individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or disability is illegal. Thus, it is against the law to fail or refuse to hire an individual due to his or her color, race, or sex. Hence, if the Hispanic woman applicant discovers the reason of the rejection of her application, she may file a lawsuit against the company on the grounds of racial or sexual discrimination.
If proven, it could have a negative impact on the company’s finances and reputation. (3) I would convince him that hiring decisions based on biases could lead to inaccurate decisions. Her credentials dictate that she could significantly contribute to the company’s progress. If the company would let this opportunity pass by deciding not to hire her, the company is giving its competitors the chance to gain competitive advantage.
In addition, if she files a lawsuit and wins the case on the grounds of racial or sexual discrimination, it could be detrimental not only to the company’s finances but to its reputation as well.
References
Ethnicmajority. com. (2004). Employment discrimination against African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans. Retrieved October 25, 2007 from http://ethnicmajority. com/WORKPLACE_DISCRIMINATION. HTM Koning, K. (2007). Social Cognition. In wiu. edu. Retrieved October 25, 2007 from http://www. wiu. edu/users/kak102/webpage. html