Thread: Can DL applicants be legally discriminated over regular B&M applicants

Can DL applicants be legally discriminated over regular B&M applicants?

I mean can a distance education /online degree holder file a case against a recruiter should he qualify a regular candidate on virtue of his classroom qualifications?

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ofcourse not that an employer should necessarily site the reason for qualifying the regular classroom traditional candidate to the DL student however in an eventuality that the DL student is sent a letter or an e-mail or some documentation that proves that there was a case of discrimination over the DL course, are there ramifications involved that one needs to be aware of?

Assuming the particular school also has a B&M campus, how would they know the difference? I wouldn't even mention it on an interview unless they ask explicitly. You have a degree. That's all they need to know.

Discrimination legally means discrimination against protected groups, e.g., age, sex, race, sexual orientation. If one is not in a legally protected group then you can be legally discriminated against. Although, you may be protected indirectly. For example, an airline had rules restricting the weight of the flight attendents. The union brought a suit saying that this was discrimination against age since as one gets older the weight goes up. The airline was forced to modify their weight restrictions to make them more lax as one gets older. I don't think that distance learning degrees are a protected group.

So there is no legality that protects DL qualifications?

employers can just throw the resumes of such candidates into the waste paper basket should one get to know the correspondance education fact.

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Isn't that like saying "can employers discriminate against non-ivy league schools?"

It's not like you were born into distance learning. Some are going to be faster than others to accept DL degrees (if they can even tell) and non DL degrees.

Employers can hire whomever they want; I would hate to see an affirmative action clause kick in for DL students.

Originally Posted by ideafx

Assuming the particular school also has a B&M campus, how would they know the difference? I wouldn't even mention it on an interview unless they ask explicitly. You have a degree. That's all they need to know.

The school I graduated from, a SUNY university, has DL notated on the official transcript. Not entirely accurate because the program was not completely distant learning. One of the courses was taken on campus.

Interesting that the institution desires to differentiate between on campus and distant learning graduates.

Originally Posted by vinodgopal

So there is no legality that protects DL qualifications?

Nope, there is not.

Originally Posted by vinodgopal

employers can just throw the resumes of such candidates into the waste paper basket should one get to know the correspondance education fact.

Yes, they sure can. In fact, they can throw your resume in the trash for any reason they feel like as long as it isn't illegal. Actually, they can toss your resume for illegal reasons too as you are 99% of the time never going to find out.

Some employers will throw it away because you graduated from an online school, because your name looks foreign, because they didn't like the B&M you went to, and my personal favorite (and one that I am guilty of), because your resume and/or cover letter has more than 1 typo on it.

In the end, they'll just say that they didn't feel you were qualified for the position. Either that, or they'll never call you for an interview. They'll never tell you the real reason they tossed your resume.

Originally Posted by vinodgopal

employers can just throw the resumes of such candidates into the waste paper basket should one get to know the correspondance education fact.

Why not, there is another thread that has a story of an HR person that throws away resumes of candidates that list MBA or PhD after their name. Is it wrong to throw away resumes that have poor grammar or mis-spelt words? It is a choice.

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I'm sure they can't, legally. They can think it, but I don't think they will say it.

HR guys can be name-freaks for certain jobs. All of the engineers at the company I work for graduated from SEC schools. Mainly, Alabama, Auburn, Old Miss and Mississippi State.

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Originally Posted by lawrenceq

All of the engineers at the company I work for graduated from SEC schools. Mainly, Alabama, Auburn, Old Miss and Mississippi State.

That has to be considered a hostile work environment during college football season. :) Hopefully the school rivalry is tame where you work but I know the SEC people I've run into have been pretty hardcore about their teams.

Originally Posted by vinodgopal

Can DL applicants be legally discriminated over regular B&M applicants?

I mean can a distance education/online degree holder file a case against a recruiter should he qualify a regular candidate on virtue of his classroom qualifications?

There are a lot of discrimination variables when it comes to education . I have seen people trashing resumes because of foreign degrees, name of the schools, level of education , prestige, etc. I think having a DL degree should be the least of your worries but more about the place that granted the degree, the place of the school, etc. If the school has a good name, most people won't care if the degree was followed by using distance as many schools nowadays offer DL programs.

I don't see nothing illegal here, if an employer feels that a particular graduate does not meet the job requirements due to lack of education (the employer might feel that a particular school is weak) then there is nothing you can do about this.

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Originally Posted by lawrenceq

I'm sure they can't, legally. They can think it, but I don't think they will say it.

HR guys can be name-freaks for certain jobs. All of the engineers at the company I work for graduated from SEC schools. Mainly, Alabama, Auburn, Old Miss and Mississippi State.

No protected class, no legal standing for a discrimination complaint. (but I'm all for Auburn hires)

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Originally Posted by bazonkers

because your name looks foreign

This depends, some American and Canadian software companies hire 99% of their employees from India. Having an Indian name can actually help when sending your resume to these companies.

Originally Posted by RFValve

This depends, some American and Canadian software companies hire 99% of their employees from India. Having an Indian name can actually help when sending your resume to these companies.

True. OK, then some might throw your resume away because your name does not look foreign. :)