Furloughed B&H workers accuse company of discrimination

[NY_Dan]

Interesting NY Post Article...

"Some furloughed employees at B&H Photo Video fear that they recently lost their jobs for good — and claim it’s because they reported unsafe working conditions during the coronavirus outbreak.

After complaining about the company’s handling of the pandemic back in March — including packed indoor prayer services for its ultra-religious Jewish workers — some workers have spotted what look like postings for their jobs online. It’s a position they wouldn’t be in, they suspect, if they were part of the company’s inner circle of Hasidic Jewish staffers, who they say get special treatment."

Link to whole article: https://nypost.com/2020/10/18/bh-accused-of-discrimination-by-furloughed-workers/

 

[Pentode]

That's unfortunate. I wish I could say it's totally surprising but I can't.

I think we're going to see a lot of this sort of behavior as the world navigates its next steps.

As a furloughed employee of a company that is now trying to use the pandemic as an excuse to slash employees' pay and attack our working conditions I can certainly empathize with B&H employees. On the other side of that, I tend to take anything I read in the Post with a grain of salt.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Discrimination at B&H is nothing new, unfortunately.

Phil Forrest

 

[f.hayek]

Assuming that a claim is automatically true and slamming “ultra-Orthodox” Jews, “just because” speaks to a very dark side of people’s respect for ‘diversity’. Some bigotries are acceptable now, it seems.

LeT us recall that in NYC, for weeks on end, tens of thousands of demonstrators/rioters in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, pillaged the streets of New York with the tacit encouragement of local officialdom and appeared “exempted” from “safety” concerns during a pandemic. Let’s not forget this.

Woke has it’s privileges, I guess.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

My comment has nothing to do with religion but instead with power.
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20170814

Phil Forrest

 

[splitimageview]

Anyone can make an accusation; doesn’t mean it’s legit or has any basis.

We will see how it plays out.

 

[NY_Dan]

Really sad about the guy who can't afford his insulin, and has to share his uncle's insulin. It must have been really painful for him to see B&H advertise for the job he was furloughed from. And imagine if the place where you worked allowed one group of people to hold packed religious services during the start of a pandemic in the lunchroom where you had to store your insulin.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Assuming that a claim is automatically true and slamming “ultra-Orthodox” Jews, “just because” speaks to a very dark side of people’s respect for ‘diversity’. Some bigotries are acceptable now, it seems.

LeT us recall that in NYC, for weeks on end, tens of thousands of demonstrators/rioters in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, pillaged the streets of New York with the tacit encouragement of local officialdom and appeared “exempted” from “safety” concerns during a pandemic. Let’s not forget this.

Woke has it’s privileges, I guess.

+1. Calling most hated for no reason religion as ultra-right is dark. Brownish to be exact.

 

[f.hayek]

Really sad about the guy who can't afford his insulin, and has to share his uncle's insulin. It must have been really painful for him to see B&H advertise for the job he was furloughed from. And imagine if the place where you worked allowed one group of people to hold packed religious services during the start of a pandemic in the lunchroom where you had to store your insulin.

Sadder still when there’s a pandemic and thousands clog the streets with the applause of the Mayor and Governor, and you can’t even reach the pharmacy or supermarket for essentials because people are being attacked and virus is in the air. Not to mention the thousands sleeping the day away massless in the subways, their medical conditions unknown.

 

[Rick Waldroup]

Sadder still when there’s a pandemic and thousands clog the streets with the applause of the Mayor and Governor, and you can’t even reach the pharmacy or supermarket for essentials because people are being attacked and virus is in the air. Not to mention the thousands sleeping the day away massless in the subways, their medical conditions unknown.

What does any of this have to do with the story about discrimination at B&H?

 

[BillBingham2]

Sad, not a surprise as very few Hasidic followers experience much outside of their community.

There hasn't been any protection for workers in most states in about 20 years. The safest way to voice any complaints at work is to find a job somewhere else. The approach I would have taken was to go to HR and ask to be informed when the lunch room will be used for gatherings that he be informed so he can work around it.

HR's responsibility has moved from working with employees and the company to keep both working well into one of keep the company out of court.

B2 (;->

Forgot to mention, here in Iowa, a friend has a job at a company that does not allow her to wear an N-95 mask. Other masks are OK, but not N-95. It's a brave new world.

 

[jawarden]

Interesting NY Post Article...

"Some furloughed employees at B&H Photo Video fear that they recently lost their jobs for good — and claim it’s because they reported unsafe working conditions during the coronavirus outbreak.

After complaining about the company’s handling of the pandemic back in March — including packed indoor prayer services for its ultra-religious Jewish workers — some workers have spotted what look like postings for their jobs online. It’s a position they wouldn’t be in, they suspect, if they were part of the company’s inner circle of Hasidic Jewish staffers, who they say get special treatment."

Link to whole article: https://nypost.com/2020/10/18/bh-accused-of-discrimination-by-furloughed-workers/

Are you the furloughed B&H employee quoted in the article?

 

[BillBingham2]

I can attest to the stress of working at a company that has such a culture. I currently work at one and, well, it's special. While I haven't felt safe in years working at a publicly traded company and I was a consultant for 12 years (not an employee of where I worked), I feel a lot less safe now. I just need to be super careful to not step out of line.

B2 (;->

 

[CameraQuest]

Are you the furloughed B&H employee quoted in the article?

Right, do you think any source of that quote would want to publicly broadcast it to B&H?

 

[KoNickon]

A lot of thinly veiled "culture war"-type postings on this thread. All NY Dan did was call it to folks' attention. Sheesh.

 

[f.hayek]

What does any of this have to do with the story about discrimination at B&H?

Before one starts yapping about "Hasidic" "ultra-orthodox" and a lunchroom, look at the larger picture and whether in fact all instances were treated equally.

They were not.

Watched thousands (from a distance), yelling, screaming and exhaling in the demonstrations following the Floyd murder. Not a peep about the risks to public health. But where there's a lawsuit possible, the vultures circle.


I doubt anyone would have made similar commentary had it been an Asian, Hispanic, Indian or African-Amrican owned business.

Just sayin'...

 

[KoNickon]

"I doubt anyone would have made similar commentary had it been an Asian, Hispanic, Indian or African-Amrican owned business."

I see -- because those people get special treatment. Right.

 

[jawarden]

Right, do you think any source of that quote would want to publicly broadcast it to B&H?

If the management at B&H can read then they already know who the employees are because people quoted in the article used their full names and are not hiding. I'm just wondering if condolences are in order or if NY_Dan is just sharing some news and happens to share a name with the person in the article.

 

[f.hayek]

"I doubt anyone would have made similar commentary had it been an Asian, Hispanic, Indian or African-Amrican owned business."

I see -- because those people get special treatment. Right.

Because almost everyone's ethnicity/religion is now PC off limits.
Almost everyone.

The owner of the store that called the police on George Floyd was a Palestinian Muslim. It is irrelevant to the event but never mentioned. Yet when B&H is brought up, that's where it goes.

Now you understand!

 

[zuiko85]

Well, glad I’m retired. For what it’s worth, the large company I retired from acted in much the same way toward long time employees anyway. Because of our salary and benefits they really wanted us to do the bean counters a favor and just croak.
After 2000 the company lost business year over year and instead of improving product and service they thought they could just cut out employees, cut wages, benefits etc to achieve profitability again, with predictable results, surly non motivated staff.

They filed for bankruptcy last year.