Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Handshake Case in Sweden
Sweden’s unemployment agency was found guilty of discrimination against a man’s religion. A Stockholm court ordered the Public Employment Service to pay $6,700 in damages to an immigrant who lost his jobless benefits when he was kicked out of the program. Citing his faith, the Muslim man was expelled from a job training program when he refused to shake hands with a woman when he was interviewing for an internship. The agency said his behavior was part of the reason he didn’t get the position and he was excluded from the program.
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2 comments:
I feel like it is really up to the country to decide what is right based on their values to determine the outcome of this situation. There are two things that Sweden could do. Sweden could say we want to respect the religion of immigrants, as they did by showing the $6,700 court order. The alternative is Sweden could put more emphasis on respect to their culture by saying, "In this country, we acknowledge both sexes and will shank hands when appropriate." For example, they may feel that if people are willing to go to their country, that they should follow their rules, ethics, and morals. Very tough call.
I believe that in these situations it is up to the country to decide what is right and even though that is his religion, he needs to understand that he is at the mercy of the agency and it is his responsibility to adjust to the employers customs. Either way this is a bad situation for the Sweden unemployment agency because of the bad press.
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