QUOTE
Race in America: How hip-hop Asians can get carried away
By: Emil, Jun 24, 2008
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Tags: general |
Here’s a twist on the racial front. Novellus has agreed to pay for the sins of an employee for subjecting fellow workers to karaoke-style rap singing that included the use of the “N” word.
The rapping employee was a 27-year-old Vietnamese American. The aggrieved? A black employee.
Do you think if it were a black rapper that the black employee would have sued? Or would he have been down with it?
From the EEOC press release:
SILICON VALLEY MANUFACTURER NOVELLUS TO PAY $168,000 FOR RACIAL
HARASSMENT
Co-Worker Rapped Racial Slurs Despite Complaints, EEOC Charged
SAN JOSE – A major Silicon Valley manufacturer of semiconductor
production equipment will pay $168,000 to settle a racial harassment and
retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged
Novellus Systems, Inc. with subjecting an African American worker to racial
harassment.
According to the EEOC’s suit, Michael Cooke had to listen on a regular basis
to a 27-year-old Vietnamese American co-worker playing and rapping aloud to
music lyrics that included anti-black racial epithets such as the “N-word.”
Although Cooke complained several times to his supervisors and made it clear
that the language was offensive to him, the co-worker continued to use
slang involving racial slurs and to sing along to these kinds of lyrics within
Cooke’s earshot. The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that delaying effective
corrective action by more than half a year constitutes unlawful harassment,
and that Cooke was fired in retaliation for his earlier complaints.
The two-year consent decree (Case No. C-07-4787-JW) signed by U.S.
District Court Judge James Ware includes monetary damages of $168,000 as
well as specific injunctive relief. While Novellus denied liability and admitted
no wrongdoing, it agreed to incorporate a “Statement of Zero-Tolerance
Policy and Equality Objectives” in its Equal Employment Opportunity and
Harassment Policy. Additionally, Novellus agreed to amend its harassment
policy to refer specifically to harassment through the playing of music, and to
include offensive musical lyrics in its examples of racial harassment.
“The EEOC is not in the business of judging anyone’s musical tastes, but we
are concerned when we find that an employer failed to respond promptly
after being put on notice of racially offen¬sive language or conduct in the
workplace,” said EEOC Regional Attorney William R. Tamayo. ”We commend
the company for resolving this action and for agreeing to modify its anti-
discrimination policies to include a specific prohibition of the playing of music
lyrics that contain racially derogatory terms.”
Acting EEOC District Director Michael Baldonado commented, “This is the kind
of situation that many Bay Area workplaces, as well as the rest of the
country face: How do you manage the culture clash – across generations,
race and ethnicity, you name it – in a workplace that gets more diverse every
day? I think it’s critical to try to put yourself into the shoes of the other
person and take all complaints of discrimination seriously. Together we can
try to defuse tensions and prevent situations from developing into
discrimination and harassment.”
Baldonado added that the EEOC welcomes employers and advocates to take
part in its E-RACE Initiative (Eradicating Racism and Colorism from
Employment). Launched early last year by EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp, E-
RACE, a national outreach, education, and enforcement campaign focuses on
new and emerging race and color issues in the 21st century workplace.
Further information about the E-RACE Initiative is available on the EEOC’s
website at http://www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/e-race/index.html.
According to its website, San Jose, Calif.- headquartered Novellus (NASDAQ:
NVLS) maintains engineering facilities in San Jose and Tualatin, Ore., with
sales and service operations in 16 countries around the world. Novellus has
approximately 3,300 employees worldwide and annual revenues of $1.6 billion.
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment
discrimination. The San Francisco District’s jurisdiction includes Northern
California, Northern Nevada, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and
Washington. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site
at http://www.eeoc.gov.
By: Emil, Jun 24, 2008
* Share
Tags: general |
Here’s a twist on the racial front. Novellus has agreed to pay for the sins of an employee for subjecting fellow workers to karaoke-style rap singing that included the use of the “N” word.
The rapping employee was a 27-year-old Vietnamese American. The aggrieved? A black employee.
Do you think if it were a black rapper that the black employee would have sued? Or would he have been down with it?
From the EEOC press release:
SILICON VALLEY MANUFACTURER NOVELLUS TO PAY $168,000 FOR RACIAL
HARASSMENT
Co-Worker Rapped Racial Slurs Despite Complaints, EEOC Charged
SAN JOSE – A major Silicon Valley manufacturer of semiconductor
production equipment will pay $168,000 to settle a racial harassment and
retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged
Novellus Systems, Inc. with subjecting an African American worker to racial
harassment.
According to the EEOC’s suit, Michael Cooke had to listen on a regular basis
to a 27-year-old Vietnamese American co-worker playing and rapping aloud to
music lyrics that included anti-black racial epithets such as the “N-word.”
Although Cooke complained several times to his supervisors and made it clear
that the language was offensive to him, the co-worker continued to use
slang involving racial slurs and to sing along to these kinds of lyrics within
Cooke’s earshot. The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that delaying effective
corrective action by more than half a year constitutes unlawful harassment,
and that Cooke was fired in retaliation for his earlier complaints.
The two-year consent decree (Case No. C-07-4787-JW) signed by U.S.
District Court Judge James Ware includes monetary damages of $168,000 as
well as specific injunctive relief. While Novellus denied liability and admitted
no wrongdoing, it agreed to incorporate a “Statement of Zero-Tolerance
Policy and Equality Objectives” in its Equal Employment Opportunity and
Harassment Policy. Additionally, Novellus agreed to amend its harassment
policy to refer specifically to harassment through the playing of music, and to
include offensive musical lyrics in its examples of racial harassment.
“The EEOC is not in the business of judging anyone’s musical tastes, but we
are concerned when we find that an employer failed to respond promptly
after being put on notice of racially offen¬sive language or conduct in the
workplace,” said EEOC Regional Attorney William R. Tamayo. ”We commend
the company for resolving this action and for agreeing to modify its anti-
discrimination policies to include a specific prohibition of the playing of music
lyrics that contain racially derogatory terms.”
Acting EEOC District Director Michael Baldonado commented, “This is the kind
of situation that many Bay Area workplaces, as well as the rest of the
country face: How do you manage the culture clash – across generations,
race and ethnicity, you name it – in a workplace that gets more diverse every
day? I think it’s critical to try to put yourself into the shoes of the other
person and take all complaints of discrimination seriously. Together we can
try to defuse tensions and prevent situations from developing into
discrimination and harassment.”
Baldonado added that the EEOC welcomes employers and advocates to take
part in its E-RACE Initiative (Eradicating Racism and Colorism from
Employment). Launched early last year by EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp, E-
RACE, a national outreach, education, and enforcement campaign focuses on
new and emerging race and color issues in the 21st century workplace.
Further information about the E-RACE Initiative is available on the EEOC’s
website at http://www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/e-race/index.html.
According to its website, San Jose, Calif.- headquartered Novellus (NASDAQ:
NVLS) maintains engineering facilities in San Jose and Tualatin, Ore., with
sales and service operations in 16 countries around the world. Novellus has
approximately 3,300 employees worldwide and annual revenues of $1.6 billion.
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment
discrimination. The San Francisco District’s jurisdiction includes Northern
California, Northern Nevada, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and
Washington. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site
at http://www.eeoc.gov.
http://amok.asianweek.com/2008/06/24/race-...t-carried-away/