"Don't Hire Any Girls--They Can't Lift As Much As The Boys"

[orleans]

overheard a supervisor (female btw) telling someone doing hiring (female btw)

um...isn't this illegal?

it's a bookstore. i guess the boys can lift heavier stacks of books and heavier items (according to the supervisor--just putting it in a bit of context.)

as far as i know there is no qualifier such as: this job requires heavy lifting and you must be able to lift 50 pounds (or 100 pounds, or whatever)

[XemaSab]

1. Some jobs do have that qualifier

What's the job for? Is it an ordinary job, or is it something like a stockroom job that would require more lifting than normal? :shrug:

[orleans]

4. as far as i know the kids do everything; stocking, helping customers,

wrapping up and returning old books, etc.
so yes, it does involve lifting--not all the time.
but they don't have a qualifier for people applying for the job. they don't come out and tell you that you have to be able to pick up and carry x amount of books/weight.

but to just put a "ban" on hiring girls (as spoken quietly, in confidence, from manager to supervisor--or whatever their pecking order is--just seems kind of fucked up)

[eShirl]

20. have "male" as a qualifier? or the ability to lift a certain amount?

The USPS makes you lift a full mail bag from the ground to your shoulder (standing) for any job, including janitor. (That was the strength test a couple decades ago, anyway.)

[BlooInBloo]

2. I don't think it's illegal to not hire someone who can't perform necessary job functions...

That said, they're screwed if a girl shows up who can lift whatever needs lifting.

[orleans]

6. yes, well, here is the fucked up part

the girl will never know.

they just won't call her back--they have hired a shit-load of boys and the girl(s) will never know why they weren't hired.

[BlooInBloo]

7. Well ya. There's all sorts of ways to practice hiring/housing/etc. discrimination....

People are very creative.

[orleans]

12. i know. i used to work for a company who was doing that shit

with the minority kids who worked there.

they were hired in a "crunch" and then were slowly replaced and they were just not put on the schedule. when these kids would call in to check their hours for the upcoming week they were told business was slow and they weren't scheduled. i was horrified. i called them (the owners) on what was happening and what the manager was doing--which was probably ok by the owners--i reported them and i quit.

stupidly, i quit BEFORE i got the kid's phone numbers so i wasn't able to tell them what was going on--and it was really up to the kids to file a complaint with the dept of labor (or wherever i called--it was years ago)

but yes, there are a lot of different ways--and just never being put back on the schedule is one way which i learned when i was about 19 or 20.

[billyoc]

22. Well, it's not that bad for them, they do get someone who can do the work!

I know you didn't mean it that way. ;)

The ironworkers union locals have a physical test, it's pretty tough. Man or woman, you pass it, you're in, you fail it, hit the fucking road. Nothing personal. :hi:

[ZombieHorde]

3. CNAs have to be able to lift a certian amount, and many woman are fantastic CNAs.

[flvegan]

5. Probably not illegal, just really ignorant.

My number one client is my 70 year old mum.

Good luck lifting as much as she does. Ha ha!

[liberalmuse]

8. This is illegal.

It's one thing to state in the requirements that you have to be able to lift at least 50 pounds, but when you say, 'Don't hire females', you've just broken the anti-discrimination law. You are letting your bigotry (false assumptions about what women can or cannot do) block employment for a specific group of people. Some women can lift 50 pounds or more. I can move a few hundred pounds from one place to another with the help of a handcart. This is an example of exactly why we have anti-discrimination laws in place.

[Kitty Herder]

9. Well said. nt

[csziggy]

14. I was once told I would not be recommended for a job

because I would not be able to do the lifting. At the time, I was working part time at a horse farm, moving 100 pound sacks of feed, shoveling hundreds of pound of manure a day and putting 40 pound saddles on horses whose backs were higher than my head. I offered to demonstrate to the interviewer my abilities and he refused. If it had been a job I really wanted, I might have reported that state agency for discrimination.

I am 5'3" and at that time weighed about 135.

[JDPriestly]

10. Depends. My back is better than my husband's.

I can lift and lift, but I can't lift as much weight as he can. I don't get an aching back from lifting like he does. I'm short and little with strong legs and a good back. Depends on the person.

And by the way I used to work in a book store. I suppose I couldn't lift a whole box of books, but I shelved without problem.

[Lorien]

11. Er, yeah, tell that to my friend Julie:

Or my mom, for that matter; she's 5' 4" and could always lift more than my 6' father could. I suppose it depends on where you live, but I think that kind of discrimination is illegal for a job like that (not to mention ignorant as hell).

[FormerOstrich]

13. They need called on that BS.....

I was raised on a farm. My father was an former Marine Sergant....I had about 17 years boot camp before I moved away (btw...I love my parents very much).

As a teenager, I hauled hay with the crew, bucking hundred pound bales (no round ones in those days). They made me "night manager" of the local Tastee Freez because I was the only person on the night staff (all teens) that was strong enough to hoist the Ice Cream buckets into the machine.

While pretty much an old lady now, I recently built a patio with pavers....I had the 75 lb sacks of sand loaded before the Home Depot kids could get there to help me.

Females deserve the oppurtunity every bit as much as a Male. (and yes, I remember years ago being told they wanted to hire a "male" for this job because of excuse whatever...more than once. I was so hoping those days were gone!!!

[1]

15. yeah, well... illegal, shimegal...

this shit happens every day.

and if you don't think so you are an idiot.

hiring is not science. can't be proven. they can deny you for all sorts of reasons that will never get tested for "illegal."

[orleans]

17. thanks for the unnecessary name calling

and who the fuck said they didn't think it happened all the time?

[barbtries]

16. i think it's illegal and should be reported

as mentioned earlier, they might deny it. but if you get an investigation going and whoever looks around and sees the plethora of boys and dearth of girls - well, things might change. have to start somewhere.

[eShirl]

18. So, a male couch potato would be hired over a female bodybuilder

because the supervisor has pre-judged that he can lift more because of which sex he is?

Illegal or not, it's stupid.

[fasttense]

19. Damn, everything old is new again.

This is SOP for getting rid of woman. When I worked in the 70s, this was the excuse all the good paying factories used for not hiring many women. Funny, in my 20 years in the Navy, I never found a job that a woman couldn't do.

This BS about lifting was used in the 70s until the government said ok, if you really need a big person to lift for you, put it in as requirement of the job and test them. It was surprising how many jobs really didn't need heavy lifting.

We have fallen 30 years behind the times it seems. Just another bush legacy.

[melm00se]

21. it is

illegal, if the candidate can meet the physical requirements of the job, regardless of sex, they must be considered a valid candidate for the job.

Qualifiers have to be clearly and consistently indicated and applied to candidates.

IMO, this may be something that should be brought to the attention, anonymously or not, to the HR department, they will take a very dim view of such behavior.