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Disposable Workers: Race, Gender, and Firing Discrimination

Byron, Reginald Anthony
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248449595

Abstract Details

2009, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Sociology.
The nature of employment relations has undergone a dramatic shift. Fueled by globalization pressures to cut costs, expansions of the employment-at-will doctrine, and employer based attitudinal biases, firing discrimination now accounts for one half of all discrimination complaints in the American workplace (Hirsh 2008). Yet surprisingly little sociological research has investigated this phenomenon (Petersen and Saporta 2004). Using a unique data set of over 300 discrimination complaints made to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission between 1986 and 2003, I employ a multi-method approach to highlight the patterns and processes of firing discrimination. Drawing from statistical discrimination and especially social closure theories, I test the assumptions that race based terminations will be distinct from those that are based on sex. For example, prior work speculates that African Americans will be differentially treated and fired based on stereotypical perceptions of deficient skills, whereas women are more likely to be differentially treated and fired surrounding the issue of pregnancy/motherhood. In addition, I draw from labor market theories to explore whether relevant processes are shaped and mediated through the formalization of work. Results reveal eight distinct processes of discriminatory firing that range from subtle to overt. As predicted, firing discrimination unfolds for African Americans and Caucasian women in distinct ways. On one hand, African American women and men have two to three times higher odds of experiencing and reporting differential performance expectations and treatment in firing compared to Caucasian women. Caucasian women, in contrast, have five times higher odds of reporting pregnancy based firing discrimination compared to African American women. These patterns hold even in the face of individual level factors (e.g., seniority, occupational prestige, age) and levels of workplace formalization (e.g., organizational size, industrial category, establishment composition). Immersion into the rich qualitative narratives of these cases reveals that firing sometimes takes the form of arbitrary dismissals (i.e., Black men), quid pro quo sexual harassment (i.e., White women), and retaliatory dismissal for filing a prior claim of discrimination (i.e., all groups). These data also show that overarching stereotypes, cost containment objectives, and the maintenance of status hierarchies are strong motivations for managers to bypass formalized procedures and legitimize discrimination. Acknowledging these complexities, it is clear that “one size fits all” firing protections will not be an effective solution to this problem. I conclude by discussing what these results mean for employment inequality research as well as law and employment policy.
Vincent Roscigno (Advisor)
Liana Sayer (Committee Member)
Steven Lopez (Committee Member)
Jay Barney (Committee Member)
170 p.
Sociology
Discrimination; Termination; Race; Gender

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Byron, R. A. (2009). Disposable Workers: Race, Gender, and Firing Discrimination [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248449595

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Byron, Reginald. Disposable Workers: Race, Gender, and Firing Discrimination. 2009. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248449595.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Byron, Reginald. "Disposable Workers: Race, Gender, and Firing Discrimination." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248449595

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.