healthy4u: diversity

Diversity Nightmare And Federal Antidiscrimination Laws: Cleveland Clinic CEO Delos M. Cosgrove Would Proudly Discriminate Against Fat People

The following stunning quote appeared in the Nov. 27, 2009 Newsweek article "<a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/224585">The Hospital That Could Cure Health Care</a>" about the Cleveland Clinic: <blockquote>[Cleveland Clinic president and CEO Dr. Delos M. Cosgrove, a former cardiac surgeon] has even taken on the most intractable driver of American health-care costs: Americans. Having already banned the hiring of smokers (a dictate enforced by urine tests for nicotine), Cosgrove declared this year that if it weren't illegal under federal law, he would refuse to hire fat people as well. The resulting outcry led him to apologize for "hurtful" comments. But he has not backed down from his belief that obesity is a failure of willpower, which can be attacked by the same weapons used to combat smoking: public education, economic incentives, and sheer exhortation.</blockquote> My thoughts come from the perspective of a former fitness-for-duty evaluator and drug testing officer (Medical Review Officer) for the regional transit authority in a very large city, and a hiring manager in the hospital and pharmaceutical sectors. I find a profoundly discriminatory statement that a hospital CEO would "refuse to hire fat people" if he could get away with it, and that he refuses to hire smokers and forces people (presumably candidates) to take a urine nicotine test, totalitarian and highly abhorrent. Nothing about smoking or obesity [except in very specialized job situations for the latter] makes a person unfit to work in a hospital. This attitude is exactly why we have federal anti-discrimination laws, to protect people from biased autocrats like this. I should add that talent apparently is irrelevant to this autocrat; if a person is overweight, this self-righteous SOB would send an applicant out the door. So much for talent management if he could get his way. One wonders if he would also send current employees who are overweight out the door - if he could get away with it. A May 2008 USA Today article entitled "Weight discrimination could be as common as racial bias" <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2008-05-20-overweight-bias_N.htm">here</a> made the point that: <blockquote> <div class="inside-copy">Weight discrimination, especially against women, is increasing in U.S. society and is almost as common as racial discrimination, two studies suggest. Reported discrimination based on weight has increased 66% in the past decade, up from about 7% to 12% of U.S. adults, says one study, in the journal Obesity. The other study, in the International Journal of Obesity, says such discrimination is common in both institutional and interpersonal situations — and in some cases is even more prevalent than rates of discrimination based on gender and race. (About 17% of men and 9% of women reported race discrimination.) Among severely obese people, about 28% of men and 45% of women said they have experienced discrimination because of their weight. "Weight discrimination is a very serious social problem that we need to pay attention to," says Rebecca Puhl of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, a co-author of both studies. ... Institutional discrimination involved health care, education or workplace situations, such as cases in which people said they were fired, denied a job or a promotion because of their weight. Interpersonal discrimination focused on insults, abuse and harassment from others.</div> </blockquote> This raises several questions: <ul><li>The CEO of an organization sets the tone. What does such a statement about "fat people" do to staff morale?</li></ul><ul><li>As a result of this CEO's stated preferences, is there subtle or covert discrimination against overweight employees at the Cleveland Clinic, preventing promotions and/or causing or contributing to situations of <a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/constructive-discharge">constructive discharge</a>?</li></ul><ul><li>Is there subtle or covert hiring discrimination against overweight candidates, with the hiring managers knowing the CEO's expressed views? </li></ul><ul><li>One also wonders if this CEO has similar attitudes towards gays, minorities, and people with physical and emotional disorders that also would not affect their ability to perform their jobs.</li></ul><ul><li>How well does the Cleveland Clinic respect other aspects of diversity considerations in its hiring, firing, and job promotion practices?</li></ul><ul><li>What kind of care and quality of staff interactions do overweight people receive/experience at the Cleveland Clinic?</li></ul> This CEO will not be "curing healthcare" any time soon IMO, since a primary consideration is compassion. He seems somewhat deficient in that attribute. He also seems deficient in the characteristic known as business wisdom, especially in an era of competition and trigger-finger litigation. His statement could be used by competitors to steer people away from the Cleveland Clinic and its affiliates. It could very likely also be used in support of discrimination lawsuits against the Cleveland Clinic and its affiliates by current, former, and potential employees (as well as by overweight patients, conceivably) which can be very expensive and damaging to an organization's reputation. In addition to all of the problems exhibited by healthcare leaders as covered on this blog, I add a new one apropos to this CEO's cerebral anatomy: <a href="http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/fathead">fathead</a>. -- SS

Diversity Nightmare And Federal Antidiscrimination Laws: Cleveland Clinic CEO Delos M. Cosgrove Would Proudly Discriminate Against Fat People

The following stunning quote appeared in the Nov. 27, 2009 Newsweek article " The Hospital That Could Cure Health Care " about the...

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Mosaic: bringing diverse perspectives together

This is the next post in our <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/diversity">Interface series</a>, which takes a look at valuing people's similarities and differences in the workplace. For more information on how Google fosters an inclusive work environment, visit <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=about.html">Life at Google</a> on our Jobs site. – Ed. Since joining Mosaic, our diversity initiatives group in the <a href="http://maps.google.com/?q=5+Cambridge+Center%2C+Cambridge%2C+MA+%28Google+Cambridge%29">Boston office</a>, we've seen firsthand how even a small group of Googlers dedicated to a cause can make a real difference. Mosaic was created in 2007 when a few Boston Googlers were talking informally over lunch about how to increase the diversity in our rapidly growing office. Since then, we've made great strides in growing our membership and highlighting the creativity and varied experiences of our colleagues. The idea even spread to other Google offices, with several Mosaic chapters opening across the U.S. Over the past year, Mosaic Boston has participated in Google's university recruitment efforts by holding three open houses to encourage traditionally underrepresented students from the Boston area to apply for careers at Google. This past summer, we hosted two enthusiastic interns as part of <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=bold.html">Google's BOLD</a> (Building Opportunities for Leadership & Development) diversity internship program to explore opportunities in the technology industry. We watched their leadership skills grow as they organized events such as a career panel and product demos for high school students through Mosaic. Most recently, we co-hosted a lunch-and-learn with esteemed Harvard Business School professor <a href="http://drfd.hbs.edu/fit/public/facultyInfo.do?facInfo=bio&facEmId=dthomas">David Thomas</a>, co-author of "Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America." Down-to-earth and engaging, Professor Thomas presented his findings about minorities and women who had "made it" in corporate America, stressing the need to build wide networks of support, find strong mentors and develop a niche within a company that meshes with one's personal values. His message reminded us of how important it is for Mosaic to provide these opportunities for our own community here at Google. You can <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGPyU1cJAaM">watch the video</a> from his visit on the Authors@Google YouTube channel. As both Googlers and members of Mosaic, we feel empowered and excited to live out our values in our workplace. To us, this means anything from inviting authors to speak and training non-profits on how to use Google Apps, to throwing a Brazilian Carnaval-themed edition of our weekly company meeting complete with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3B9V0axCpU&feature=channel_page">capoeira performers</a>, caipirinhas, and authentic Brazilian food. We're excited about what Mosaic has accomplished so far and can't wait to see what's next. In the meantime, we continue to be committed to providing personal and professional growth for the members of our diversity group, as well as doing our part to keep Google an inclusive place to work. <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcI2dvP_3npKQntAHj0ZTNvmPcIZP_cKRqtCXn-127SojQ8K_0oDJtT6ZHOCykAstWAlZ9FFE1UzSQhND9qUE_oIedKE99ggCr9HteXb-HzMxXYMkyDtyxnX2Bnhf5_j98svyBLeaEzibu/s1600-h/DSCN2341.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322805217330592034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcI2dvP_3npKQntAHj0ZTNvmPcIZP_cKRqtCXn-127SojQ8K_0oDJtT6ZHOCykAstWAlZ9FFE1UzSQhND9qUE_oIedKE99ggCr9HteXb-HzMxXYMkyDtyxnX2Bnhf5_j98svyBLeaEzibu/s400/DSCN2341.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>Boston Mosaic team with capoeira performers </div> Posted by Priti Sanghani and Mariam Shaikh, AdWords Account Associates

Mosaic: bringing diverse perspectives together

This is the next post in our Interface series , which takes a look at valuing people's similarities and differences in the workplace. Fo...

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It's Girls Day at Google

Today we're celebrating Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, or Girls Day, as part of <a href="http://www.eweek.org/Home.aspx">National Engineers Week</a> (E-Week) in the U.S. For the second year in a row, we've partnered with the National Girl Scouts to bring girls to six Google offices around the country, where they'll participate in fun activities designed to educate them about engineering, specifically computer science. Googlers, many of them Google Women Engineers, are hosting the guests of honor and leading workshops covering all kinds of topics, including solar powered energy, image processing and a demo of Google Earth. At the end of the day, all of the participants will receive a limited edition "Introduce a Girl to E-Week" patch that they can add to their Scout sashes. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUSr4qdIB1Nk9PnYBGnMNoz8017zmYezagDoxcrFX-pt-qoGazsX49btocp78b3cM20J09193ts2pP2O21D0NoKWiaqz2XQt6HYy6oPN7bEro_rf3OTkTLrJ4-Leo9660Q40dg8BZgx_M/s1600-h/IMG_0402.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304580189807456210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUSr4qdIB1Nk9PnYBGnMNoz8017zmYezagDoxcrFX-pt-qoGazsX49btocp78b3cM20J09193ts2pP2O21D0NoKWiaqz2XQt6HYy6oPN7bEro_rf3OTkTLrJ4-Leo9660Q40dg8BZgx_M/s400/IMG_0402.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day participants in 2008.</div> Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day is just one important part of E-Week, which was founded by the <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http://www.nspe.org/PartnersStates/eweek.html">National Society of Professional Engineers</a> (NSPE) and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. By the end of the week, Google offices will have hosted more than 600 students at events designed to expose them to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The students who participate in our E-Week events are from partner organizations that also focus on STEM education for girls, underrepresented minorities, and the economically disadvantaged. Here's hoping each of these students will walk away feeling inspired to pursue studies in these fields. Posted by Demian Caponi, Global Diversity and Talent Inclusion team

It's Girls Day at Google

Today we're celebrating Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, or Girls Day, as part of National Engineers Week (E-Week) in the U.S. For ...

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Building engineers

We believe great ideas can come from anywhere and everyone. And we aspire to be an organization that reflects global diversity, because we know that a world's worth of perspectives, ideas and cultures leads to the creation of better products and services. We have more than a dozen employee-driven resource groups, from Gayglers to GWE (Google Women Engineers), that actively participate around the world in building community and driving policy at Google. This is the next post in our <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/diversity">Interface series</a>, which takes a look at valuing people's similarities and differences in the workplace. For more information on how Google fosters an inclusive work environment, visit <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=about.html">Life at Google</a> on our Jobs site. – Ed. As someone who has been building technology for more than 15 years, I know firsthand what a positive impact building hardware or software with a small team in an agile environment can have. I was only exposed to this type of work during grad school, and have since been actively involved in getting young people interested in science and technology. This year Google has enthusiastically supported my initiative to bring a local group of girls closer to technology through the <a href="http://www.usfirst.org/what/frc/default.aspx?id=366">FIRST Robotics Competition</a>. "People claim that only with the perspective of years can you know how much influence a particular event has had on you," Tal Tzangen says and proceeds to explain how she is convinced her participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition last year has significantly changed the course of her life. Tal, a 17 year old girl from a rural part of Israel, was taking technology courses at her school, not because she was particularly interested in technology but because the other options seemed even less appealing to her. Although Israel is also known as "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Wadi">Silicon Wadi</a>," Tal thought technology was "just for geeks." Last year she agreed to be a member of a newly forming FIRST team, not knowing what she was letting herself in for. The competition involves 1,686 teams from more than 42,000 high schools spanning the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Turkey, and the U.K. Each team has six weeks to build a robot from a common kit of parts provided by FIRST. Then, they compete with other robots in a new game devised each year. Before Tal knew it, she was "bit by the bug." During the weeks of preparation, she spent days and nights at school learning about robotics and teamwork with her peers and mentors. Her team had won the regional competitions and were seeking funding for the finals in Atlanta when I met her. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZCOEaaA4jyIPlibt-vgfWf_q0c3Ajpby5AjZHK6elRqjyECEfwFHQIf5jkM2e21k_GNuiunHIvghv-thkHPw3qWsAm6fLPSgFInMW8AmtX6EnEufG5K9cuqPr9f5denatVpwRTNhq9b9/s1600-h/IMG_2090.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291654394473927458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZCOEaaA4jyIPlibt-vgfWf_q0c3Ajpby5AjZHK6elRqjyECEfwFHQIf5jkM2e21k_GNuiunHIvghv-thkHPw3qWsAm6fLPSgFInMW8AmtX6EnEufG5K9cuqPr9f5denatVpwRTNhq9b9/s320/IMG_2090.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Tal, center, and her team members work on their robot's transmission system. </div> This year Tal is the captain of the Google-sponsored Thunderbolts team, and one of her goals has been to get as many girls involved as possible. As she puts it, "I certainly don't mind the company of my male peers, but I know that girls also have a lot to contribute in this domain." The current team includes 24 students, eight of them girls (last year there were only two). Recruiting girls has been challenging since there are very few in the technical track in high school. She has enlisted some pre-high school girls with the hope of serving as a role model to them. Likewise, she has encouraged the forming of a FIRST LEGO team (9-14 year olds) to ensure the "next generation" for the Robotics Competition. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2A6cp0aW7_zP_vW3XXq3SSmEOQbVw9lJf-5XRGXG0UEihATIB0SG7-vU50QCWtCOgBZnyI1feLV1kC0xGqSKG9FKq09ZMrV5KRaL2HDpUASqmahoJ5YmhlpCNT-2AzoaHvX3Yaw44RDuH/s1600-h/IMG_2046.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291654403837436114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2A6cp0aW7_zP_vW3XXq3SSmEOQbVw9lJf-5XRGXG0UEihATIB0SG7-vU50QCWtCOgBZnyI1feLV1kC0xGqSKG9FKq09ZMrV5KRaL2HDpUASqmahoJ5YmhlpCNT-2AzoaHvX3Yaw44RDuH/s320/IMG_2046.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The Thunderbolt team. </div> The world kickoff for this year's competition took place on January 3rd, followed by the Israeli kickoff the following day. Regardless of how far they get in the competition this year, Israel is a country where high tech, engineering, science and entrepreneurship thrive, and Tal and her Thunderbolts are a growing part of this culture. Posted by Natalia Marmasse, Software Engineer, Haifa office

Building engineers

We believe great ideas can come from anywhere and everyone. And we aspire to be an organization that reflects global diversity, because we k...

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Black Googlers Network: building community

We believe great ideas can come from anywhere and everyone. And we aspire to be an organization that reflects global diversity, because we know that a world's worth of perspectives, ideas and cultures leads to the creation of better products and services. We have more than a dozen employee-driven resource groups, from Gayglers to GWE (Google Women Engineers), that actively participate around the world in building community and driving policy at Google. This is the next post in our <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/transgender-remembrance-day.html">Interface series</a>, which takes a look at valuing people's similarities and differences in the workplace. For more information on how Google fosters an inclusive work environment, visit <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=about.html">Life at Google</a> on our Jobs site. – Ed. It's been a busy few months for the Black Googlers Network (BGN). One of our group's core goals is to build a community that keeps us connected, facilitates the sharing of ideas, and participates in community outreach. We sponsored a variety of events this fall across many of our offices, giving us the opportunity to give back and have some fun while doing it. To kick things off, a group of us from the Mountain View, New York, Ann Arbor, Chicago and Atlanta offices, to name a few, rolled up our sleeves for our first annual service trip. We headed to New Orleans in September to aid in the Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts. Undeterred by Hurricane Gustav, which unexpectedly hit the coast the week before we arrived, we managed to make some adjustments to flights and itineraries and were some of the first volunteers back into the city. We partnered with the <a href="http://www.stbernardproject.org/">St. Bernard Project</a>, learning everything from how to lay flooring to installing drywall as we worked on three homes. Additionally, we joined a strategy session with <a href="http://www.ideavillage.org/">The Idea Village</a>, helping them kick off their newest initiative, the <a href="http://www.ideavillage.org/vanguardtalent/504ward.php?PHPSESSID=6bda8a2c4989d232d4c9f814cb53d637">504ward Project</a>. The opportunity to serve the community in such a meaningful way while getting to know BGN members was unique. We each put our minds, bodies, and souls into the city and the experience. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6mYaIM3bUSy2XMYj5ZgAf_ub_SdOQxprTJudjZ7mUObY1t2vAzNHKIulngHzdZfV38GS4lDPxvb-ppLc61jirCEfZCkZmGMxh9fZwH5RCG7Qw6LfqLjs5Up70TRmEVMLFiuz2sfrYFyA/s1600-h/Group+Photo+.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281279082635779426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6mYaIM3bUSy2XMYj5ZgAf_ub_SdOQxprTJudjZ7mUObY1t2vAzNHKIulngHzdZfV38GS4lDPxvb-ppLc61jirCEfZCkZmGMxh9fZwH5RCG7Qw6LfqLjs5Up70TRmEVMLFiuz2sfrYFyA/s400/Group+Photo+.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" /></a> Next, BGN participated in the <a href="http://www.uncf.org/">United Negro College Fund's</a> annual Walk-a-thon in Oakland, CA. Our Google-UNCF partnership also includes an annual scholarship for college students pursing a degree in engineering or computer science, and we're continuing to explore different ways to support and encourage underrepresented students. This month, we're coming together in many of our offices for the holidays, giving ourselves a chance to catch up and take stock of the work we've done over the past year. Not to be slowed down for too long, though, as we will soon begin the exciting process of planning our new initiatives for 2009. Posted by Alexa Bush, University Programs Team

Black Googlers Network: building community

We believe great ideas can come from anywhere and everyone. And we aspire to be an organization that reflects global diversity, because we k...

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Transgender Remembrance Day

We believe great ideas can come from anywhere and everyone. And we aspire to be an organization that reflects global diversity, because we know that a world's worth of perspectives, ideas and cultures leads to the creation of better products and services. We have more than a dozen employee-driven resource groups, from Gayglers to GWE (Google Women Engineers), that actively participate around the world in building community and driving policy at Google. The post below kicks off an occasional series, entitled Interface, about valuing people's similarities and differences in the workplace. For more information on how Google fosters an inclusive work environment, visit <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=about.html">Life at Google</a> on our Jobs site. – Ed. November 20th marks <a href="http://srlp.org/node/250">Transgender Remembrance Day</a>, which takes on a special significance in a world awakening to the need for unity among all people. In observing this day, the Gayglers — the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) group within Google — extend their wholehearted support to the LGBT community at large, as we reflect on the senseless violence perpetrated against transgender people around the world. People who identify or express their gender differently than the one assigned to them at birth usually call themselves transgender or transsexual. All too often, they are subjected to a range of not-so-subtle prejudices and transphobia, from verbal abuse to physical violence. Imagine walking into a public restroom in a state of dread over a confrontation about your appearance. Imagine visiting a doctor and worrying about how far to "out" yourself to receive appropriate care. Studies suggest that transgender people are 16 times more likely to be killed than the general population -- earlier this month, in fact, a transgender woman in Tennessee <a href="http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?oid=oid%3A51706">was murdered</a> -- and this is just the most recent of many such cases. We're fortunate here at Google, where there are LGB and T people at all levels of the company, thanks to enlightened hiring and promotion practices that set aside sexual orientation or gender presentation. Ultimately, Google fosters a workplace where everyone has the ability to be themselves at work. For transgender employees in particular, that means everything. On this Transgender Remembrance Day, take just a few moments to remember the trans siblings, parents, friends and lovers who lost their lives to gender-based intolerance and hatred. Let's all share in a future where tolerance and understanding transforms the world. And let's work to create a better place for everyone to live peaceably in an all-inclusive world community that merits our deepest pride. Posted by Kai Johnson, Software Engineer

Transgender Remembrance Day

We believe great ideas can come from anywhere and everyone. And we aspire to be an organization that reflects global diversity, because we k...

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