Discrimination costing companies

You would think that with companies having to pay out a record $365 million in awards to victims of job discrimination, employers might stop foolishly firing or not hiring people over a certain age. Not only are businesses being challenged legally by folks who feel blatantly discriminated against, they are also shooting themselves in the foot by favoring less qualified new hires (cheap help) who often have to be replaced in six months for one reason or another. High turnover is rarely a good thing in business.


Discrimination against anyone in the workplace has been proven to be bad for business for decades, yet the lawsuits keep piling up because certain industries never seem to get the message or think it's cheaper to pay settlements than to invest in proper hiring practices. Now, with so many folks out of work, discrimination against the unemployed is becoming an epidemic. Too many employers are making incorrect assumptions about many well-qualified job candidates based on reasons that are supposed to be against the law. I've seen this happen from all angles in recent years, and I have heard well-intentioned human resource people agonizing over not being able to pursue good job candidates because of pressures from above to steer the search to a certain demographic. And most of the time, those faulty assumptions and shadowy pressures lead to bad personnel decisions that directly impact the quality and quantity of work produced, not to mention the morale of existing employees who might start getting a few gray hairs.


Hiring the best person for the job, regardless of age, race, gender or anything else, still makes the most sense to me and should be the mantra of anyone involved in hiring and staff development.


Baby boomers are a resilient and resourceful group, and would much prefer to work than to collect unemployment or to pitch a tent at an "Occupy" demonstration. But if boomers aren't given a fair chance to hold or compete for jobs (the data indicates folks over 55 are being shut out in the job market at a rate twice as high as younger people), they do seem more willing than ever to fight for their workplace rights in a court of law. And they do appear to be winning those cases.

• Read about some baby boomers opting to leave the U.S.

Good words in gloomy times

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves. One is made of anger, envy, sorrow, regret, self-pity, guilt and resentment. The other is made of hope, peace, love, serenity, empathy, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a while and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee replied, "The one you feed."

Iron men of metal are back

Black Sabbath, the defining heavy metal band from about 150 years ago, is back. These are the original four members. Amazingly, they are all still alive, which is good because I hate it when some oldies rock band does a reunion tour but only has one or two original members left. Why should I pay good money to go listen to what is essentially a cover band or an Ozzy Osbourne impersonator? Yes, I am referring to you Journey, Chicago, Grand Funk Railroad and Jefferson Starship, not to mention countless others who have done reunions with a fraction of the real band members on stage.


I am glad the Sabbath guys decided, after three decades, to crank it up one more time, but I won't go see them perform. Call me "paranoid," but I fear there will be one too many Spinal Tap moments in their shows, and I already have enough of those in my day-to-day life.


I am not sure metal lends itself to senior citizen reunions. Will anyone want to see 70-year-old Metallica members in leather screaming about things that, well, really aren't relevant anymore or are just pathetically redundant? I am still cool with ZZ Top rolling out in white beards (now age appropriate) and playing some great blues=based rock, but I am not as comfortable with the idea of Judas Priest telling me that I "have another thing coming." Heck, at this stage of life, those lyrics are just a form of kicking baby boomers when they're down.


I won't deny any band's right to wheel out the Marshall amplifiers and have some fun in their senior years. There is nothing like playing in front of a live audience at any age, and Sabbath still has a pretty loyal following and, I presume, the chops to pull it off. But please, Ozzy, no biting off the heads of birds or any other critter. Don't even pretend to do it. This isn't 1970. PETA will be all over your case, and I'll just cringe from embarrassment and have to explain myself (and my generation) to people half my age. Just play your music, enjoy the energy from the crowds and don't trash any hotel rooms.