Racial hiring bias alleged at Iowa state agency

Henry C. Jackson

DES MOINES, Iowa — Top managers at Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) had biases about the interview skills of black job applicants, which contributed to lower hiring and promotion rates among blacks at the agency, according to a state-commissioned report.

The report is part of an ongoing investigation of alleged racial discrimination at the agency that became known when 11 people filed complaints to the state in May 2006.

“Our report finds [high-level managers] were predispositioned about African Americans’ interview skills,” said Earlene W. Rosenberg, a lawyer with the Washington law firm Rose & Rose, which compiled the report. “They were assuming they would perform poorly.”

The three-page report included statistics showing that fewer blacks than whites were hired by Iowa Workforce Development. However, the report provided few, if any, examples illustrating how managers were biased, and it was roundly criticized by state officials for offering few solutions.

“I’m disappointed in that I don’t think it’s a very in-depth report, or a very well-written report,” said Ralph Rosenberg, the director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, which commissioned the report. “I’m not commenting on its merits or demerits.”

The report, obtained by The Associated Press and dated July 20, does not include names of the parties involved in the interviews, but it cites several anecdotes about hiring practices, as well as statistics from 2004, 2005 and 2006 in building a case that too few blacks were hired by Iowa Workforce Development.

In each year cited, a smaller percentage of black applicants were hired than white applicants. In 2006, for example, 3.4 percent of all white applicants to the agency were hired, compared to less than 1 percent of all black applicants.

According to the report, that disparity was a product of bias.

“The perception by high level managers [at Iowa Workforce Development] that African Americans do not have good techniques for how to act during interviews appears to have contributed to the lower hiring rates and promotion rates for African Americans at IWD,” according to the report.

Among other incidents, the report cites a case involving a black applicant who had “great leadership skills from community work but did not bring those skills up in an interview.” According to the report, the agency’s interviewer did not ask the man any questions about his community skills.

IWD spokeswoman Kerry Koonce said that her agency is committed to hiring a diverse workforce, but she was critical that the report did not offer many solutions to the problems it claims exist.

Gov. Chet Culver agreed, calling the report disappointing. Solutions were “specifically required in the contract with the Rose law firm and not provided in the final report,” he said.

Earlene W. Rosenberg, who helped compile the report, said her work was complete and concise and offered specific steps that the state could take.

She said the report showed that the state needed to rely less on job interviews, and said the report showed that the state needed to offer more thorough training for people conducting interviews.

The report is the first of two that Rose & Rose was commissioned to conduct. The other longer report has not yet been received and will remain confidential, Ralph Rosenberg said.

(Associated Press)