Cheryl Cole’s reported sacking from the US version of X Factor due to Americans’ failure to understand Geordie has led a UK law firm to warn employers that discriminating against individuals with regional accents could get them sued.
The Girls Aloud star is believed to have been sacked ahead of the show’s launch in the US this autumn, with speculation rife that producers were concerned over the viewing public’s ability to understand her accent. Other conjecture centred on rumours that Cole’s “chemistry” with fellow judge Paula Abdul was poor and that she was home-sick and so wanted to return to the UK.
But law firm ELAS seized on the story to point out that, while discrimination on the grounds of regional accent is believed to be rife in many businesses especially when recruiting new staff or deciding who to promote, such activity left employers open to legal action.
Peter Mooney, the company’s head of employment law, said: “From the conversations we have with small businesses, we estimate around three quarters would still favour a candidate with a neutral accent over one with a strong regional twang at interview.”
Although such behaviour was not specifically mentioned in law, it was covered under racial discrimination legislation.
“If a British business refused to hire someone with a strong southern American accent, for example, they would be wide open to legal action. Equally, an English business choosing not to hire somebody with a Glaswegian or Cardiff accent could easily find themselves facing a charge of racial discrimination involving a costly tribunal and a potentially unlimited fine,” Mooney said.
Research undertaken by the Employers Forum on Age, meanwhile, revealed that employers tended to unconsciously recruit workers who were similar to themselves or existing personnel.
Nearly three quarters of workers questioned said that most of their colleagues were similar, with age being the most common factor (68%), followed by gender (62%) and social background (53%).
Denise Keating, the Forum’s chief executive, said: “There seems to be a very high instance of people being selected for a new job or promotion if their ‘face fits’, which unfortunately means some people feel that talent isn’t enough to overcome prejudices. Whilst many companies have solid diversity policies, this may not run throughout the company down to individual team level, which is an issue that needs to be addressed.”
