by Race in the Workplace special correspondent Erica

Discrimination: more than a matter of semantics - Globe and Mail
An editorial on the Ontario government employee that referred to a job applicant as “the ghetto dude.” “This is the sort of nonsense that many poor people are forced to deal with on a daily basis, and often in circumstances leading to outcomes far more dangerous than missed job opportunities as ‘media analysts’ in the final months of the McGuinty government. There has been plenty of talk about racism in connection with this issue, but this is not just about race. This is also about social class, and the sort of snobby classism that says someone from a poor neighbourhood is automatically ‘ghetto’ and not entitled to the same chances and opportunities that the non-’ghetto’ people are.”

Be like Nike: Nike Racism Lawsuit Settled for $7.6M, but did the slavemasters get off too easy? - Slant Eye For The Round Eye
“If you figure the settlement to be about $20,000 per person, you have to ask yourself if Nike got off TOO EASY? I mean for 400 employees, some as far back as 1999 that got relegated to the back of the bus status - shouldn’t that be worth more?”

Hidden racism among professional classes ‘rife’ - The Asian News
“The [University of Manchester] researchers concluded that white professionals see racism as a ‘moral defect’ from which they do not suffer and anti-racist training commonly deployed in public sector organisations simply reinforces those assumptions, they say.” (via Resist Racism)

Salary, Gender and the Social Cost of Haggling - Washington Post
A group of women doctoral students filed a complaint at Carnegie Mellon because none of them were teaching classes, but all the men were. Turns out all of the men had asked to teach classes and none of the women did. Studies show differences like these are probably part of the reason why the gender gap in pay exists. (via Workplace Blog)

For Young Earners in Big City, a Gap in Women’s Favor - New York Times
“In 2005, 53 percent of women in their 20s working in New York were college graduates, compared with only 38 percent of men of that age. And many of those women are not marrying right after college, leaving them freer to focus on building careers, experts said. ‘Citified college-women are more likely to be nonmarried and childless, compared with their suburban sisters, so they can and do devote themselves to their careers,’ said Andrew Hacker, a Queens College sociologist….”

Family-Leave Values - New York Times Magazine
Long story on the changing workplace and legal environment surrounding family responsibility. “The plaintiffs in roughly four-fifths of the work-family lawsuits filed thus far have been women. As Knussman’s case shows, men, too, may find themselves subjected to stereotypes about their domestic responsibilities — by employers who feel they shouldn’t have any. What women alone appear to encounter is a powerful set of negative assumptions associated with motherhood.”

Recommended Reading is a weekly feature where we link to some of our favorite workplace-related blog posts and articles. If you would like to suggest a link to Erica, please email [email protected]