2006-05-23

Does Ford Descriminate Against Black Employees?

I have lots of black friends that work at Ford. Most claim that they get paid less -- much less -- than similarly qualified whites with a similar amount of experiance. I assume that they are wrong, and I see blacks getting promoted and doing very well at Ford. Can my friends making $80,000/year really be sitting next to crackers making $100,000? I doubt that!

Meanwhile I've had whites tell me that "only minorities" can get ahead at Ford. They also seem incorrect, since I see whites getting promoted, and whites dominate the management. I also see lots and lots of non-white immigrants doing VERY well within the Ford ranks.

I hope that this lawsuit "opens the books" and both claims get assessed against the facts. If my eldest, college-age daughter -- and "African-American" -- would herself work hard and achieve a degree that would qualify her for a job at Ford, I would predict that her "race" and gender would play either no role in her success, or be overwhelmed by the role played by her conduct.

"Plaintiffs allege they were denied job promotions in favor of less-qualified whites; paid less than white co-workers in similar positions; overlooked for entry-level executive programs."

3 comments:

Paul Hue said...

I only now caught this juicy morsel:

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Included in his lawsuit is a Nov. 30, 2004, e-mail exchange between Carrington and his new direct supervisor. "Hello … I was wondering if we could set some time aside to talk about my performance and a possible pay increase?" Carrington wrote. This reply from his supervisor's computer one minute later: "Now you listen to me n----- you will never receive a pay increase at Ford as long as I'm manager." Ford admitted in court documents filed Jan. 4, 2006, that the e-mail was sent from the supervisor's computer. However, Ford said it could not determine who sent the e-mail and did not discipline the supervisor.
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I am very suspicious of the above claim. In fact, I am so suspicious of it that I doubt it.

First of all, Ford supervisors zero input into the salary paid to contract employees by their official contract house employer. A supervisor has no influence on what a contract house pays a contractor, and doesn't even know the rate.

I think that it is less likely that within one minute (!) a Ford supervisor in 2004 would send such a blatant policy-violating email than it is one of Ford's contract employees carried out a scheme akin to planting a fake finger in your Wendy's chili.

I hope that details about this come out in the lawsuit.

Paul Hue said...

Friends who claim that whites get paid more have claimed that the figure is 50% more. The example I used was generous in representing their sanity.

Paul Hue said...

If they can prove these claims, then I support Ford paying a hefty fine. What is the average pay, and pay ranges, of black and white Ford employess with similar levels of experiance and credentials?