In my first job as a computer programmer my computer shop hired a black programmer. It soon became clear that he could not do his job, he did not try, and he did not care. When I learned that he was earning twice what I was, I discussed the matter with our boss.
Ah, now we are getting to it. Now, the funny thing is, most places will fire you these days just asking what other employees are being paid.
I can think of several reasons why this guy was being paid more. Maybe he had more degrees. Maybe he was more charismatic or had a more impressive-looking resume. Maybe he was hired during a tight labor market, and you were hired during high unemployment. For instance, during the 2008 recession, the weasel I worked for fired the people who had been with him for a decade and hired a bunch of replacements who worked for cheaper.
Our boss told me, "When I was promoted to my position I was told that I would be evaluated in part by my ability to attract and keep black subordinates, I was also told that I was supposed to expect less from them."
First, I don't see any manager telling a boss that, and I don't see any boss worth his salt sharing that kind of information if it were true.
When our boss finally fired the black programmer, after giving him every conceivable opportunity to perform adequately, the president of our company reprehended him for about a half an hour. You see the black guy was not hired to do a job. He was hired to keep the company from being sued. When affirmative action is ended in hiring decisions that kind of thing will come to an end.
Reprehended him? Do you mean reprimanded?
Wow, you work on a lot of bad assumptions.
First, there is no "quota system" in private hiring. True, an employee can sue if he gets turned down for a job, but usually, when a company is taking severe corrective action like that, it's because they've already been caught discriminating by EEOC or some labor board.
If someone sues, and you find they've only been hiring white people, including the Boss' idiot nephew, you are probably going to be in a lot of trouble, particularly if they go through all the resumes and find Jamal Washington had a degree and a longer work history than the idiot nephew did.
This is why most companies don't leave hiring decisions up to one person. I can honestly say that in the last three jobs I've gotten, a committee interviewed me. (not to mention the dozens of places I interviewed at that didn't hire me.) In two of those jobs, I had an inside track because someone on the inside recommended me.
So, even if SCOTUS strikes down private sector affirmative action, expect employers to keep covering their asses, hiring a couple of unqualified minorities to make up for the unqualified idiot nephews. Just like they'll hire some worthless females to keep from being sued for sex discrimination.
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