William M. Slonaker

Discrimination in the Ranks: An Empirical Study with Recommendations

Successful recruitment and retention of qualified police officers is a primary concern of departments and supervisors. Employment discrimination is an onerous stress that negatively interferes with success. In this article, the authors discuss the legal concepts of employment discrimination, report the discrimination experiences of the officers in their research database, and make recommendations for confronting and preventing employment discrimination. The database includes numerous descriptive variables taken from employment discrimination claims field in Ohio during a 15-year period. It is the most complete database on employment discrimination in the United States.

Employment Discrimination in the Restaurant Industry

An analysis of a database compiled by the authors from claims recorded by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission found that three causes of action accounted for most employment-discrimination claims against restaurants in that state. Those causes are (in decreasing order of frequency) race, sex, and retaliation. When the restaurants are analyzed according to type, however, the frequency of claims changes. One particular change of note is the rise of retaliation claims, which overwhelmingly follow complaints based on other causes. This cause of action merits attention from restaurant operators because a retaliation claim can continue even if the original complaint fails or is dropped.

An Analysis of Gender Equity in the Federal Labor Relations Career Field

Since the term was popularized in the 1980s, the “glass ceiling” has become a significant concept in the American workplace. The metaphor describes a reality in which women and minorities tend to be overrepresented at the lower levels of an organization, yet underrepresented at more senior levels. The research described in this paper shows the progress of women in the federal governments labor relations career field during the 1990s. Using government employment statistics from throughout the 1990s, the article shows that women in labor relations have made significant progress toward equity in both salary and level of management. At the same time, the data presented show that there remains substantial room for continued improvement.

African American Males in the Front Door but out the Back Door: Monitor Discharges

While every instance of race‐based employment discrimination is important, this study finds that managers need to devote extra attention to the discharge of male, African American employees. During the past three decades, efforts to create fair procedures and promote perceptions of fair treatment have focused on hiring activities, the “front door”. However, this study of actualemployment discrimination claims finds that discrimination against African American menmay be particularly acute in the realm of employee discharge, the “back door”. In addition, this study suggests that the employees’ immediate supervisors should be trained and monitored in order to reduce this form of racial discrimination.

Employment Discrimination Experiences of Registered Nurses

Successful recruitment, retention, motivation, and satisfaction of nurses should be of primary concern to all employer organizations and supervisors. Employment discrimination is an onerous stress that negatively interferes with success. The authors discuss the legal concepts of employment discrimination, report the discrimination experiences of the nurses in their research project, and make recommendations for confronting and preventing employment discrimination.