Private employment agencies in many parts of the country have thrown a “protective curtain” around discriminatory employers, the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith charged in a report on fair employment practices made public today. “As a result, discriminatory employers have been able to effect their restrictive policies behind the shield of anonymity, safe from public exposure, ” the report said.
The report cited the use by employment agencies of secret symbols on their application forms and other elaborate coding techniques to screen out job applicants belonging to minority groups. “The system works so well, ” said Benjamin Epstein, ADL national director, “that discriminatory employers are relieved of the embarrassment of having to interview and confront unwanted job seekers.”
The report pointed out that “new forces, however, are beginning to emerge. ” It cited the fact that recently the California Employment Agencies Association adopted a resolution calling upon member organizations to remove all potentially discriminatory questions from their employment forms, and to refrain from soliciting racial or religious restrictions when an employer does not voluntarily state his preference.
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