I have witnessed gender-based discrimination at William F. Green State Veterans Home in Bay Minette, Alabama.
The department heads gathered after 9:00 am on Thursday, October 18, 2007 to report to the Executive Director, David Grimes. I witnessed that Tara Salter, the Director of Human Resources, reported that a male Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) had applied for a job at William F. Green State Veterans Home. David Grimes responded that two male LPNs had been hired before, but neither of the two male LPNs had “worked out.” David Grimes continued by instructing Tara Salter to “shred the application” because “males cannot handle the job.”
I again was present the next day when the department heads at William F. Green State Veterans Home gathered to report to David Grimes, Executive Director. Again, Tara Salter reported that she still had an application from a male LPN. David Grimes stated that he had made his “position about male nurses very clear” and that he “had nothing left to say about the matter.”
To deny an applicant a job because of his gender merely because one has previously hired only two individuals that did not “work out” is extremely prejudicial and illogical. While more than two female nurses have been terminated at William F. Green State Veterans Home, yet the management at William F. Green State Veterans Home has hired far more female nurses than the two male nurses hired since David Grimes has been Executive Director.
It stands to reason that two male nurses will stand out in memory if one has hired only two males, but the greater number of terminated female nurses goes unnoticed because they are part of a much larger pool of hired female nurses.
