
B&H forced Hispanic workers to use separate bathroom: feds - walterbell
http://nypost.com/2016/02/25/bh-forced-hispanic-workers-to-use-separate-bathroom-feds/
======
LyndsySimon
Reading the DoL press release[1], it seems that the headline might be
misleading.

It said that they found that B&H "OFCCP found that B&H’s Brooklyn Navy Yard
warehouse [...] [r]elegated Hispanic warehouse workers to separate, unsanitary
and often inoperable restrooms" Previous to that, it says "OFCCP found that
[...] B&H’s Brooklyn Navy Yard warehouse exclusively hired Hispanic men into
its entry-level laborer job group, contributing to the complete exclusion of
female employees at the warehouse and the near exclusion of black and Asian
employees at the facility." Seeing that all entry-level workers were
apparently Hispanic, it seems reasonable that the unsanitary restrooms might
be on the warehouse floor, where the staff may have been 100% Hispanic.

Likewise, the press release claims that they "[f]ailed to provide designated
restroom or changing facilities for females". Note that above, there were no
female employees at that location. Again, that doesn't make it _right_ , but
it's also not the case that B&H had women working in the warehouse that had to
share a restroom with male employees.

My intuition tells me that the lack of women's facilities was being used as
justification for not hiring female employees.

In summary, B&H definitely did wrong here. It's just very frustrating to me
that the reporting on this was so shallow.

1:
[https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/20160225-2](https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/20160225-2)

~~~
LyndsySimon
It's also interesting to note that this is not a prosecution, but a compliance
review for federal contract requirements. I'm unsure if the requested
injunction would carry the force of law or merely put at risk B&H's federal
contracts.

------
bichiliad
For those that are a little skeptical of NYPost, here's the DOL press release:

[https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/20160225-2](https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/20160225-2)

And here's the same story on some other news sources:

[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/nyregion/bh-
electronics-s...](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/nyregion/bh-electronics-
store-sued-for-discrimination-of-hispanic-workers.html)

[http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/29/us/bh-photo-
lawsuit/](http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/29/us/bh-photo-lawsuit/)

~~~
slg
Notice the date on all of these, they are from 2016. I wonder why this story
is popping up on HN now.

EDIT: Just to clarify since I am getting downvoted, I am not necessarily
against this being on HN, but at the very least the post should have the year
in the title to indicate it is old.

~~~
grzm
Often people don't notice right away that it's old, or aren't aware of the HN
convention to include that in the submission title, or just forget. I agree it
should be there. (I've also seen people argue it _shouldn 't_ because it may
prejudice a reader from reading it.)

Sometimes the submitter will notice comments about the year and update it.
Sometimes mods do. If you contact the mods via the Contact link in the footer,
they'll update it. They're quite responsive.

------
dopamean
Whenever I hear allegations like this I always wonder what reason the company
could possibly have for this. I like assume, perhaps naively, that there was
some reason other than "we don't like Latino people and want to avoid them."
Even as a black man it seems bizarre to me that at this day in age that kind
of racism still exists. In no way do I mean to relieve B&H of any
responsibility because in the end the actions are the same regardless of the
intention. It just seems really, really weird.

~~~
advisedwang
I can imagine a situation like:

\- Store has both a back-room toilet for staff only & show-room toilet for
customers and initially allows the staff to use either. THe Show-room toilet
is nicer than back-room toilet.

\- Store worries customers are put-off by staff in customer toilets. Perhaps
some customers even complain. Perhaps some of those complaints are even
specifically about visible minorities.

\- Store responds by asking visible minority staff not to use show-room
toilet.

I don't know whether that is what happened here, but it is a plausible
pattern. Of course this is still inexcusable, classic discrimination.

~~~
noer
The warehosue & showroom are in different locations, miles apart.

------
guelo
B&H is run by ultra conservative orthodox Jews and they've gotten into trouble
in the past for refusing to hire women and for their treatment of latinos.
Their preference seems to be to only hire orthodox Jewish men in the main
office and the store and to only hire latino men in the warehouses.

------
cdubzzz
Damn. Very sad to read this. I have been using B&H for IT hardware purchases
for work to lessen reliance on Amazon a bit and their service has been great.

~~~
OliverJones
Sad to hear this about a company run by Orthodox Jews. This is a company that
visibly keeps the Sabbath by refusing to take online orders from sunset on
Friday to sunset on Saturday.

The Hebrew Bible, which I guess they honor in the breach, calls upon people to
treat immigrants with respect MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY TIMES as it calls on
people to love God.

Grumble. I have to find a new vendor.

~~~
relics443
I'm not sure how the religion of the owner of the company factors in here. If
they were atheist would that change the situation?

~~~
sjm-lbm
To be fair, B&H is well known for following Jewish customs _very_ zealously -
their website won't even take orders during the Sabbath, for instance.

~~~
relics443
I understand that, but I fail to see how it has any bearing on the story.

~~~
freehunter
They just explained why. They're very religious, they believe strongly in
their religious text, and yet they've been accused of violating one of the
teachings of that text. It doesn't matter what religion they support, what
matters is that they're violating one of its tenants.

------
texan
This did resurface recently. As of January, they are moving their warehouse to
NJ.

[https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170113/navy-yard/bh-
photo...](https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170113/navy-yard/bh-photo-
warehouse-industry-manufacturing-comany)

~~~
joecool1029
Ugh, there goes getting laptops sales tax free here. Thanks for the heads up.

Logical move on their part though, the Satmars also have a huge presence in
Lakewood and it's way cheaper to plop a warehouse in NJ than Brooklyn.

------
edblarney
The headline is misleading.

Warehouse workers use separate bathroom facilities than other workers? This is
common.

Unsanitary conditions for warehouse workers ... sadly, this is probably
common.

I once worked in the front office of a fairly clean paper company. The workers
bathroom in the back was a little messy. That said - the duderinos in there
didn't keep it very clean either. They also didn't wash their hands.

There's possibly a racial issue here, but more likely the systematic effects
of undocumented labour and the fact those are more amenable to 'warehouse'
jobs, as opposed to jobs requiring other skills. The natural dissonance in
skills may lead to a stronger bifurcation of attitudes, rights etc. (i.e.
"Hey, they're just undocumented people, they don't need clean bathrooms, let's
skimp on the cleaning etc")

I'd suggest the issue is probably more of a general thing, than a specific
concern.

I wonder if the specifically misleading headlines are going to help or hinder
the problem.

------
ianaphysicist
Old news from 2016.

------
tlrobinson
February 25, 2016

