Are you discriminating because you use Social Networks to find candidates?

Full article here
http://www.workforce.com/section/06/feature/26/68/67/

Discriminatory Twist in Networking Sites Puts Recruiters in Peril
Sourcing applicants from Twitter or LinkedIn or screening candidates through Facebook or MySpace may open employers to discrimination charges.
By Fay Hansen
Comments 19 | Recommend 33

n the rush to cut recruiting budgets and avoid the avalanche of résumés now generated by job boards, employers are increasingly tapping professional and social networking sites as a sourcing tool.

Some employers now rely heavily or even exclusively on Twitter or LinkedIn to fill open positions. While this approach may create short-term cost savings and new efficiencies, it may also skew applicant pools and trigger discrimination lawsuits.

“Networking sites, including Twitter, exclude whole populations,” says Jessica Roe, managing partner at Bernick, Lifson, Greenstein, Greene & Liszt in Minneapolis. “We are going to end up with a very homogenous workforce. The social networks represent limited social groups and very small labor pools. It’s an enormous issue.”

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Patrick Chuna on September 30, 2009 at 9:23pm

Heck, since these lawyers are so concerned about the rights of "excluded populations", does that mean i can sic a lawyer on a company that won't let me be on it's "preferred recruiter" list, or only uses job boards? just askin'..

I guess awarding a smartphone and twitter account to everyone with a pulse and forcing them to be online would solve the problem, and perhaps should have been in the stimulus package.

Sandra, I like the idea of not even bothering to screen or interview candidates.. anytime we exhibit judgment, subjectivity and preference, we create a potentially actionable situation..or hurt feelings at the least, so since breathing is the one thing everyone does just like everyone else, that's the perfect place to set the bar..blinking or passing gas would work too, I suppose.

Reading about crap like this makes me sick.. nothing worse than lawyers ( and politicians) who profit from the s**tstorms they create.

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Permalink Reply by Peter Ceccarelli on October 1, 2009 at 6:56pm

Ridiculous! Completely ridiculous and taking up space! I agree with Sandra on all points. This is not relevant to anyone who is not an ambulance chasing attorney.