Case Analysis

Situation:

Jetta Wong is the owner and manager of the Golden Dragon oriental restaurant. The restaurant is
large, inexpensive, and enjoys an excellent reputation. Business is good, and the restaurant
serves a diverse clientele. Ms. Wong places a classified ad for a table busser in the employment
section of her local newspaper. The response is good, and Ms. Wong narrows the field of
potential candidates to two. One is the same ethnic background as Ms. Wong and the rest of the
staff. The second candidate is Danielle Hidalgo, the daughter of a Mexican citizen and an
American citizen. Ms. Hidalgo was born and raised in the United States. While both candidates
are pleasant, Ms. Wong offers the position to the candidate who matches the background of the
restaurant and Ms. Wong. Her rationale is that, since both candidates are equal in ability, she has
a right to select the candidate she feels will best suit her business. Because it is an oriental
restaurant, Ms. Wong feels diners will expect to see oriental servers and bussers. No one was
discriminated against, she maintains, because Ms. Hidalgo was not denied a job on the basis of
race but rather on the basis of what was best for business. Ms. Wong simply selected her
preference from among two equal candidates. Ms. Wong relates her decision to Ms. Hidalgo.
Ms. Hidalgo maintains that she was not selected because of her Hispanic ethnic background. She
threatens to file a charge with the EEOC unless she is offered employment.

I. Overview

The personnel on the business shares a same ethnic background. Whereas a new applicant, Ms.
Hidalgo shares a different ethnicity by having American-Mexican background, from her parents.
In this case, race between Asian (Oriental) and American (Western) has been widely a concern
not only how Americans spread “Asian-hate” but also, the unfavorable views and beliefs of
Chinese to Americans as they are considered to be in “Collision Course” [ CITATION Pei15 \l
1033 ]. Since it can be seen in the situation that Ms. Wong has Chinese blood (using her
surname), this issue might be brought up in the case. Moreover, it was also said that Chinese
value their national and societal identity more than anything else [ CITATION LaM18 \l 1033 ] . This
proves that the first applicant already has a high chance of being chosen because they share
common ethnic background with the owner of the business.
 II. Problem

Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that it is unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail of
refuse to hire any individual, discriminate them or give privileges in employment in terms of
race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It was clearly shown that Ms. Hidalgo was not
accepted for the position because of her ethnicity. She was equally qualified for the position as
the other female yet this criteria (being Oriental), which was not included in the requirements,
was the thing seen by Ms. Wong in order to accept the first applicant, which leads to the
violation of the Civil Rights for the side of Ms. Hidalgo.

III. Alternative Solutions

There are two (2) alternative ways to address the problem:

1. Conduct a training for one month to test the capabilities of both applicants. After a month
of training, evaluation will be conducted with the board of trustee of the
company/business
2. Assess both applicants on the spot using series of tests like communication skills,
theoretical skills, performance and strategic skills useful to improve the business more.

IV. Evaluation of Alternatives

1. Training and Evaluation
This solution will enhance the applicants’ skill making them realize their compatibility
with the business and how they will fit and survive in the job to be assigned. There will
be one month training, to adjust them in the workspace and the tasks to be done, to
familiarize them with the environment. After a month, an evaluation, to be decided by the
board of trustees/stockholders of the business, will be conducted with series of
assessments on the trainings done.

2. On-the-Spot Assessment
Both applicants will be assessed on the time they are being interviewed to examine the
skills and knowledge by not looking on its ethnical background. The first test will be the
theoretical skills using a simple question and answer format. It will be followed by
 communication skills where a given situation will be presented to test the communication
skills of the applicant. It will be followed by performance and strategic skills where an
actual scenario will be assessed in order to qualify the applicant or deny her
application[ CITATION Hil18 \l 1033 ]. This also serves as screening and indicate the real
understanding and capability of the application that makes it compatible with the
company.

V. Recommendations

Based on the two solutions given on the problem, it is recommended that Solution
number 2 is the best. On-the-Spot Assessment will make a fair selection of qualified
applicants because it will base purely on the applicant’s skills and compatibility with the
business. Moreover, it is not only Ms. Wong who will choose but also people who are
part of the business which makes it more reliable. This must also be done in further
applicants so that this case may not happen again [ CITATION Ald90 \l 1033 ]. Also
stockholders should be provided or a selection team must be added so that this team will
purely focus on the applicants and it is not only Ms. Wong who will choose. Also a
smooth process of selection will be crafted by the selection team for a fair qualification of
further applicants.

VI. Possible Results and Obstacles to Implementation

Possible results in the alternative solution to the situation is the formation of a Selection
Team and adjustments to the application process. In here, fairer qualification is possible to
happen and less issue as Ms. Hidalgo (if not chosen) will now have nothing to justify. Also,
complications are also more likely to happen like additional wage for selection team,
application for selection team and the time and effort to be conducted for the selection of
applicant. However, it will be an ease for the business in the longer run because there is a
high possibility to prevent the issue in the future.
 VII. References

Aldrich, H., & Waldinger, R. (1990). Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship. Retrieved from jstor:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2083265?seq=1
Dyson, E. (2018). IMPROVING RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE.
Retrieved from People Scout: https://www.peoplescout.com/insights/racial-ethnic-
diversity-in-workplace/
Hill, E. (2018, January 22). What Are Pre-Employment Assessments and Tests? Retrieved from
Hire Vue: https://www.hirevue.com/blog/hiring/assessment_overview
LaMarco, N. (2018, December 11). American Vs. Chinese Business Culture. Retrieved from
Chron: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/american-vs-chinese-business-culture-
59039.html
LEGALLY SELECTING. (n.d.). Retrieved from nscpolteksby:
https://nscpolteksby.ac.id/ebook/files/Ebook/Hospitality/Hospitality%20Law
%20Managing%20Legal%20Issues%20in%20the%20Hospitality%20Industry
%204%20edition%20(2012)/Chapter%207%20LEGALLY%20SELECTING
%20EMPLOYEES.pdf
Pei, M. (2015, April). How China and America See Each Other. Retrieved from Foreign Affairs:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/review-essay/2014-02-12/how-china-and-
america-see-each-other