Bias in Hiring

(Dayton, OH) As explained in this story, the Dayton Power and Light Co. has historically had a policy of not hiring people who do not pay nor make efforts to pay their own electric bills. The policy was implemented by performing a "customer inquiry credit status check" on job applicants and by screening out those that were not current on their utility payments. Interestingly, nobody complained about the policy. The company's position was that if a person were not responsible enough to pay his or her bills, then the person probably wouldn't be responsible in dealing with Dayton Power and Light customers.

It needs to be repeated that nobody complained, so it can be assumed that any person involved with the hiring policy thought it was reasonable. However, according to the US Department of Labor, the policy is not only NOT reasonable, it is racially discriminatory. It seems that Dayton Power and Light was on the Labor Department's list to have a soup-to-nuts administrative colonoscopy and, while doing a year-long review, they found that the people who didn't pay their bills were predominantly African-American. Therefore, by not hiring people who owed them money, DP & L was discriminating against black people.

"This administration is determined to provide equal access to good jobs for all workers," Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao said in a press release Tuesday. "Employers need to take proactive steps to prevent this kind of workplace discrimination."

Because of the Labor Department findings, DP & L changed their hiring policy and committed to hiring a bunch of people who don't pay their bills and to distribute a cash settlement of $150,000 in back pay to 123 blacks who applied for part-time meter reader jobs in 2000 and 2001. [As an aside, it's unclear why someone who wasn't hired is entitled to "back pay."]

In summary, DP & L succumbed to federal pressure even though they feel that the policy was reasonable. According to DP & L Human Resources Director Bill Mercer,

DP & L wants responsible people because meter readers have contact with customers and sometimes enter their homes as part of their jobs. "We want the best employees we can get."

Frankly, I think the resolution to this problem created by the Labor Department is wrong. If racial discrimination is an overt bias in actions based on race, then DP & L did no such thing. They screened out applicants based on their credit history, despite what race they were.

Look at this from another perspective. What if the demographics of the job applicant pool were predominantly white and the same policy of not hiring poor bill payers was implemented, would that be racial discrimination? I don't think so.

One other thing, does anyone think that Donald Trump would hire somebody who refused to pay him what is owed? I don't think so.

Lastly, why is the Labor Department going out to create problems? Remember, there were NO COMPLAINTS. In my mind, it is not the function of government to go out and hunt for people to harass. That's what was done to DP & L.