US healthcare agency pays compensation for ‘No Haitians’ ad
NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — A United States-based major healthcare staffing agency has agreed to pay US$100,000 in a settlement for what has been described as an “egregious” classified advertisement that discriminated against Haitian nurses.
New York State Attorney General Eric T Schneiderman said that Interim Healthcare of Greater New York, Inc, a local franchise of one of the largest healthcare staffing agencies in the nation, will pay the penalty and agreed to revise its policies and procedures to ensure full compliance with law.
Schneiderman said the healthcare staffing agency had placed a help wanted advertisement in a local paper in October last year that discriminated against Haitians.
Many New York State legislators and the Haitian community in particular were outraged that the homecare, hospice, and medical placement agency “blatantly discriminated against Haitians.”
Schneiderman said the settlement “will protect applicants and potential applicants against discrimination on the basis of national origin, race or any other protected class.”
The settlement resolves the Attorney General’s investigation of Interim Healthcare, a probe that arose he learned that Interim Healthcare had placed an advertisement requesting a female “laid back nurse, no Haitians.”
“Blatantly discriminatory job advertisements like this are wrong and clearly illegal,” Schneiderman said. “My office is committed to ensuring equal access to employment for all New Yorkers and will not tolerate discrimination against any New Yorker based on race or national origin or any other protected status.”
The Attorney General’s investigation included reviewing policies related to hiring, advertising and internal complaints; anti-discrimination policies; copies of published advertisements for employment; and documents produced by Interim Healthcare relating directly to the published advertisement that excluded Haitian applicants.
Schneiderman said the investigation found that the discriminatory advertisement stemmed from a patient’s request, specifically asking for a nurse who was not Haitian.
“Interim Healthcare workers placed this discriminatory request for publication in the Pennysaver newspaper in error,” he said. “Prior to being published, the advertisement was not reviewed for compliance with Interim Healthcare’s internal equal opportunity policies or compliance with governing civil rights laws.”
Schneiderman also said the investigation also revealed that Interim Healthcare placed a number of advertisements stating that only females or males could apply, without conducting an individualized analysis of each patient’s request to determine if there was a bona fide occupational qualification justifying a gender-specific request, as required by law.
In addition, he said Interim Healthcare placed numerous advertisements that “exclusively featured images of women, possibly discouraging male applicants from applying for the advertised positions.”
Ultimately, Schneiderman said Interim Healthcare had inadequate safeguards in place to prevent or remedy unlawful employment discrimination based on the discriminatory requests of patients.
Under the agreement, the Attorney General said Interim Healthcare agrees to develop a Caregiver Placement Equal Employment Opportunity Policy prohibiting discriminatory conduct in processing patients’ requests for caregivers, hiring and advertising for employment in compliance with the law.
The agency also agreed to designate the Vice President of Human Resources to oversee the processing of patients’ requests for caregivers, advertising and hiring process.
Additionally, the agency agreed to conduct an Anti-Discrimination Training Programme for all employees whose responsibilities involve patients’ requests for caregivers, recruitment, advertisement, and hiring.
The company will also investigate all complaints, written or oral, alleging discriminatory treatment on the basis of race, national origin or gender and provide the Attorney General with reports describing all such complaints.
“I want to thank New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for investigating the blatant discrimination against Haitians in connection with the Interim Health, Inc. incident,” New York State Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte, the first Haitian-American from New York City to be elected to the New York State Legislature, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC)
“As a Haitian-American and as a New York State legislator, I am relieved that an agreement had been reached in this matter,” said Bichotte, who represents the 42nd Assembly District in Brooklyn.
“This type of discrimination is damaging, and I am glad that this case sets a precedent for those who continue to practice brash disdain towards any group of people.
“This sends a message to other businesses that discriminate in the State of New York, that prejudice will not be tolerated by our government,” added Bichotte, who was in the vanguard of protests against the “egregious ad”.
“Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable,” said Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, another Haitian legislator from Nassau County, Long Island, New York.
“All individuals, including Haitian-Americans, working in the Healthcare field should be recruited based on their skill set and not their ethnicity.
“The sanctions placed against Interim Healthcare sends a clear message that citizens, lawmakers, and communities as a whole stand firmly against this type of behavior, which is unacceptable in any form,” she added.
Solanges said Schneiderman’s “quick response to this issue proves that he is committed to combating discrimination in New York State”.