Julia Liceaga Mr.

Newman English 101: Rhetoric 15 September 2013

Statement of Scope for the Annotated Bibliography When applying for jobs, most applicants dont think that they would not be considered because of their appearance or the way they think. The harsh reality is that those are the main components employers of different companies base their decisions off of. In Gabriel Thompsons book, Working in the Shadows: A Year of Doing the Jobs (Most) Americans Wont Do, he stands baffled and angered when he (a white man) is fired from the flower shop in New York after working diligently for two days but later finds out that a man from Ecuador, who had a harder time than himself, kept the job. This example proves that there are flaws in our governments system when dealing with discrimination and/or favoritism amongst the working class. Although there are numerous anti-discriminatory laws in America, many employers find ways to bend the rules and create a controlled staff in the workplace. This essay will explore the ways in which employers are able to avoid infringing on government laws against discrimination in the workplace and how the employees' lives are affected because of it. I will explain how, despite the many acts and laws for discrimination prevention, the heads of companies create contracts to get around the restrictions and force the new employees to sign, thus making future lawsuits by the workers impossible. In addition to the legal aspects, I will discuss the difference of treatment between those workers who are favored in the workplace versus those who arent. This selected bibliography includes interviews with bosses and real cases which were taken to court, along with a poll proving results which pertain to the likelihood of encountering workplace favoritism after college. The Barrier and Sanburn articles portray how many business get away with discriminating against the appearances of those seeking employment because there are simply no laws against it, rather than the laws which protect against racial and gender orientation. In Eilperins article, she writes of civil rights groups fight for protection for homosexuals since the laws only protect against gender orientation and not sexual orientation. The Slavin article shows how the women who have affairs with their bosses receive more work benefits than the women who dont, which sets apart one another with favoritism. The poll taken by Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher discusses the results of a poll taken by university students asking about their chances of encountering workplace discrimination, the different types of it, and how they would go about dealing with it.

Annotated Bibliography Barrier, Michael. "Should Looks Count?" HR Magazine 1 Sept. 2004: 64. elibrary. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. In this article, author Michael Barrier explains how some employers argue that appearance is a job-related factor. He interviewed some bosses from different banks and they admitted to hiring someone because of how they look. Although the banks now pride themselves off of their new diverse faculty, Barrier found that many other organizations still continue to hold attractiveness as a big role in many employment-related decisions, especially for employees who could potentially be the public face of the company. Eilperin, Julie. "Advocates Launch Campaign to Bar Workplace Discrimination Against Gays." The Washington Post: n. pag. elibrary. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. Eilperin describes how a band of civil rights groups is launching a campaign to end workplace discrimination against gays. The article includes interviews with managers and presidents of the Civil and Human Rights groups on getting Congress to pass the bill. The coalition of civil rights groups will focus on pushing certain senators for workplace protections. Sanburn, Josh. "Too Big to Cocktail? Judge Upholds Weight Discrimination in the Workplace." Time U.S. 26 July 2013: n. pag. elibrary. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. Sanburn addressed a case in Atlantic City, New Jersey about a weightdiscrimination case brought up by a number of cocktail waitresses working at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. The waitresses were forced to complete weigh-ins and were suspended if they gained too much weight than from when they were first hired. The article explains that after looking into New Jersey's Law Against

Discrimination there wasn't that the casino was found guilty of. Sipe, Stephanie, C. Douglas Johnson, and Donna K. Fisher. "University Students' Perceptions of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace: Reality Versus Fiction." Journal of Education for Business: n. pag. elibrary. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. The authors asked some university students how likely they think they would experience different types of discrimination in the workplace. When interviewing the women, they asked if they believed they would experience sexual harrasment and how it would affect their careers. Along with questioning whether they could forsee themselves experiencing discrimination, the students had to compare themselves to their coworkers and figure out how they would each handle the situation. Slavin, Al. "Love, Labor, Losses." A. M. Best Company 1 Aug. 2009: 28. elibrary. Web. 6 Sept. 2013. In this article, Salvin describes the process of a case which ruled sexual favoritism in the workplace as demeaning and able to create a hostile work environment. Two female guards working for a prison in California claimed they were victims of sexual harassment because of favorable treatment given to women at the facility who were having affairs with the boss. One of the female prison guards said, "They don't have the same benefits, terms or conditions of employment as the one who's involved in this relationship," about those employees who weren't involved in the office romances.