The “managers” in this video are actors, as are the two young Deaf women “applying for a job.” Only the other customers are real people (and their reactions are real as well). That being acknowledged, this video brings up a number of questions that I would like to see the community make an attempt to answer.
- What crime was committed here? Avoid the argument of ethics for the moment. I am as appalled as many of you probably are—but ethics will be covered in an upcoming question. Focus on legal arguments, because without a crime, there cannot be a legal response (I’ll get to that in a moment). Specifically let’s focus on the individuals who attempted to teach the “manager” how to more efficiently discriminate against deaf applicants. They themselves did not discriminate against anyone in this video. So if you had to pin an actual crime on them with any hope whatsoever of making the charge hold up in a courtroom, what charge would you file against them? Some form of conspiracy to commit a crime? Some form of aiding and abetting a person committing a crime?
- What type of legal approach could be taken by the Deaf community to bring these individuals to justice? For example, the identities of the individuals mentioned above (henceforth known as “the HR people”) are hidden. Do you think this is because the HR people did not sign a release form… for obvious reasons… and therefore ABC doesn’t actually know who they are? Or is it more likely that ABC has their names but is protecting their identities?
- If ABC is indeed protecting their identities, what laws and what set of journalistic ethics apply here? This does not appear to be a situation where a person being interviewed agreed to divulge information in exchange for anonymity.
- Furthermore, let’s return to the question of release forms. If that’s all this is… a simple issue of the HR people not signing a release form, therefore their identities cannot be divulged and that’s all there is to it… consider, other people in that coffee shop were filmed not reacting to the plight of the two deaf women. Their lack of reaction does not cast them in a flattering light. And if it had been thoroughly explained to them at some point exactly what the video in question would depict them doing (or failing to do), they would have known this. So if that was the case, why sign a release form? Yet somehow they did and the two HR people didn’t? That seems odd.
- Finally, several questions concerning ethics:
- If the HR people are not guilty of a “crime,” they are guilty of some pretty reprehensible ethical violations. But of what type? Let’s isolate what we can. For example, these are not random employees with no ability to hire or fire. By their own admission they are in human resources, and appear to be highly trained in discrimination laws. Thus they cannot claim ignorance, and that fact gives this situation extra stench.
- Would it be ethical for the Deaf Community to make an organized effort to determine the identities of the HR people? Consider that these are people who appear to be ready and willing to actually discriminate against real deaf applicants. If they actually do that at some point in the future (if they haven’t already), they will be committing a crime. Now if you have no empathy for the deaf applicants who may become victims of such a future crime, consider the plight of the employers of these HR people. Those employers are at risk of facing a lawsuit. If you have no sympathy for their employers, consider the fact that the future deaf victims of the HR people might themselves have children, and children are also dependent upon the earning power of their parents. And finally, consider the number of people out there who seem to highly resent the fact that so many deaf people draw incomes from SSDA/SSI. If deaf people cannot get jobs due to discriminatory practices and are forced to rely on this type of income because there is no other alternative, they really are stuck in a no-win situation… they’re viewed so negatively they aren’t considered worthy of hiring, yet when they draw upon government support, they’re despised all the more. So not doing something about this really feeds into both negative situations.
