Comments on The Perorations of Lady Bracknell: In which we name and shame

Lady Bracknell will be gratified to learn that goo...

2007-06-06T18:34:00.000+01:00

Lady Bracknell will be gratified to learn that google now only finds 527 hits for the phrase (sans quotation marks) "when is it acceptable to not employ Lady Bracknell specifically?" which means 22 of the pages that The Queen found last month have disappeared. Perhaps those 22 people have decided they are now willing to consider extending an offer of employment to Lady Bracknell. (This page is the first among those 527 hits, though. One wonders ....)

When I tried googling "when is it acceptable to not employ members of the Southampton City Council?" I got 178,000 hits, which I suppose means that there are now an additional 2,000 people who wish to decline employment to members of the Southhammpton City Council. This page is again the lead hit. Does this mean that Lady Bracknell wishes to deny employment BOTH to herself and ALSO to members of the Southhampton City Council? Of course, as an aristocrat, I suppose she considers herself above mere plebian employment! ;-)

--Andrea
http://reunifygally.wordpress.com

Which is precisely why I have laid the blame with ...

2007-05-21T11:57:00.000+01:00

Which is precisely why I have laid the blame with the Council itself rather than with the hapless (and possibly innocent) individual who ran the search.

They have broken the law by not publishing their Disability Equality Scheme (which should have contained this sort of information if it wasn't already available in their recruitment guidance) by the due date.

Which, frankly, tells me everything I need to know about the level of commitment from the top towards eliminating disability discrimination in its employment practices.

I agree with Mary. One reason why anti-discriminat...

2007-05-21T11:38:00.000+01:00

I agree with Mary.

One reason why anti-discrimination leglislation often gets a bad name as "political correctness gone mad" is because not enough guidance and leadership is provided for public sector workers. They therefore err on the side of caution, which only serves to reverse the discrimination, rather than eliminate it.

@LB: knowing what I know as a non-disabled person ...

2007-05-17T23:56:00.000+01:00

@LB: knowing what I know as a non-disabled person about perceptions of people with disability (usually amongst people who unlike me have never bothered to find out or had any interest), that "wondering if you're allowed to reject a disabled applicant" sounds plausible.

And for what it's worth, the biggest two sets of referrals to my blog this week were for "cheap shoes" and "pokemon porn". Although I did get one relating to the DED too...

Ha!In other news, someone just found me by searchi...

2007-05-15T14:49:00.000+01:00

Ha!

In other news, someone just found me by searching for 'ungrateful bitch'.

Which is probably quite accurate.

"Lady Bracknell: come for the smarts, stay for the...

2007-05-15T07:55:00.000+01:00

"Lady Bracknell: come for the smarts, stay for the snark."

Oh, I love this. It's such a huge compliment. Thank you.

Now, if only I could find somewhere on the blog template to use it... ;-)

Your majesty,Quite, quite brilliant: thank you.

2007-05-15T07:52:00.000+01:00

Your majesty,

Quite, quite brilliant: thank you.

Mary,Yes, that's the only even vaguely convincing ...

2007-05-15T07:51:00.000+01:00

Mary,

Yes, that's the only even vaguely convincing innocent interpretation I could think of. Although there's something very amiss with the way their draft DES objectives have been communicated to their managers if one of them is seriously worried about refusing a job to someone unsuitable who just happens to be disabled.

But, if that is what happened, why would you Google? The natural thing to do if you are unsure about an HR issue would be to consult the HR department.

So I remain extremely suspicious.

Do you know, if you google "when is it acceptable ...

2007-05-15T04:04:00.000+01:00

Do you know, if you google "when is it acceptable to not employ Lady Bracknell specifically?" you get 549 hits. However, a google of "when is it acceptable to not employ members of the Southampton City Council?" gets 176,000 hits.

I would hope the answer to "when is it okay to not...

2007-05-14T23:46:00.000+01:00

I would hope the answer to "when is it okay to not employ a disabled person" would be "if they don't have the skills you are looking for," just like a non-disabled person.

Perhaps someone on their first interview panel, saw five candidates, four were rubbish, one was perfect for the job... but one of the four unsuitable applicants was disabled and he's wondering if it's "allowed" to reject the disabled applicant.

My strangest sitemeter referral (apart from all those disturbing, lonely, and sadly disappointed souls) was a couple of days ago. I had someone find my site by searching "how to fake upset an ECG". Grrr.

Well that's really rather outrageous. I don't thi...

2007-05-14T21:29:00.000+01:00

Well that's really rather outrageous. I don't think I've ever been both stunned and unsurprised before.

I have to confess that can't help but find it just the tiniest bit amusing that said City Council Person found the issue so complex, so utterly daunting, that he or she felt compelled to consult Google for advice with a direct question, as though it were a Magic 8-ball: "Never mind the law, or my own quietly nagging doubts! To the internets! Technology will answer!" My sources say you have no will of your own. Have you? Etc.

One of my recent Google hits came from a New Yorker looking for information about-- and I quote-- "giving someone the finger on the street." Frankly I'm surprised they'd need to look it up.

I would love to think that this will end in someon...

2007-05-14T19:59:00.000+01:00

I would love to think that this will end in someone becoming very, very unemployed very suddenly.

Unfortunately, they probably won't even do the necessary legwork to work out who it was.

Not quite as stupid as the visiting professor at my old college who snarled "you think they'd at least employ people that can speak English" at our much beloved and extremely competent Jamaican refectory worker... within earshot of the then head of the Equal Opportunities board. I hope said professor enjoyed their time at the college because I hear it's come to a rather abrupt end.

Brava! Nothing like some good sitemeter-spurred i...

2007-05-14T18:49:00.000+01:00

Brava! Nothing like some good sitemeter-spurred investigative naming and shaming. The fools should know this: Bloggers are watching.

May they hang their collective heads in shame. Unf...

2007-05-14T18:43:00.000+01:00

May they hang their collective heads in shame. Unfortunately I fear they may be the tip of the iceberg.

Last time anyone was sent to me by Google, the sea...

2007-05-14T18:32:00.000+01:00

Last time anyone was sent to me by Google, the search was for 'british fold up bike'.

I can only assume they went away disappointed.

The internet is a frightening place.

Well done.

Hm. Okay, imagine this: You are an intelligent a...

2007-05-14T17:24:00.000+01:00

Hm. Okay, imagine this: You are an intelligent and sensible person somehow associated with the Southampton City Council. You have gotten into an argument with...oh, let's say a coworker. Over the subject of equal employment. They've claimed that there are times when it is perfectly hunkydorey to not hire someone with a disability. You, in a rage, sat down and went on a net search to see exactly when this sort of reprehensible idea would be justified. In the course of your travels acros the interweb, you encountered the blog of Lady Bracknell and left behind a very easy to misinterpert record.

...it doesn't sound very convincing to me either.

For the record, I found your blog while wandering through people who'd blogged for disability day. Once I'd read a few posts, I stayed. You're the only non-knitting blog I've got bookmarked.

Lady Bracknell: come for the smarts, stay for the snark.