PHR · Question #127
The JHG Company has used discriminatory hiring practices in the past but they adjusted their practices and are following federal laws now to ensure that fair hiring practices are met. However, the JHG
The correct answer is B. Perpetuating past discrimination practices. When a company with a history of deliberate discriminatory hiring relies on employee referrals as its primary recruiting source, it risks perpetuating past discrimination because a non-diverse workforce will naturally refer candidates from similar demographic groups.
Question
The JHG Company has used discriminatory hiring practices in the past but they adjusted their practices and are following federal laws now to ensure that fair hiring practices are met. However, the JHG Company has an employee referral program as a primary source to recruit new employees. What danger may the JHG Company be exposed to in this scenario?
Options
- APerpetuating past unintentional practices
- BPerpetuating past discrimination practices
- CSuccumbing to an adverse impact
- DNot finding qualified racially diverse candidates
How the community answered
(60 responses)- A7% (4)
- B78% (47)
- C3% (2)
- D12% (7)
Why each option
When a company with a history of deliberate discriminatory hiring relies on employee referrals as its primary recruiting source, it risks perpetuating past discrimination because a non-diverse workforce will naturally refer candidates from similar demographic groups.
The scenario explicitly states the past practices were intentional discrimination, making 'unintentional' an inaccurate characterization of the practices being perpetuated.
A workforce built through intentionally discriminatory practices will skew demographically, and an employee referral program draws from that same skewed pool. Even with corrected official practices, using current employees as the primary recruiting source reproduces the discriminatory composition of the past workforce, exposing JHG to ongoing Title VII liability for perpetuating discriminatory outcomes.
Adverse impact is a specific legal concept describing a facially neutral employment practice that disproportionately affects a protected class - a distinct legal theory not specifically captured by this referral program scenario.
Failing to find diverse candidates is a potential symptom but is too narrow and does not name the actual legal exposure the company faces, which is actively perpetuating a discriminatory workforce composition.
Concept tested: Employee referral programs perpetuating past hiring discrimination
Source: https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/questions-and-answers-clarify-and-provide-common-interpretation-uniform-guidelines
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