Ms. Wong is the owner and manager of the Golden Dragon oriental restaurant. The restaurant is large, inexpensive, and enjoys an excellent reputation. Business is good, and the restaurant serves a diverse clientele. Ms. Wong places a classified ad for a table busser in the employment section of her local newspaper. The response is better than expected but Ms. Wong is able to narrow the field to two possible candidates. The first of the two is the same ethnic background as Ms. Wong most of the staff, and of the restaurant theme and cuisine.

The second candidate is Danielle Hidalgo, the daughter of a Mexican citizen and an American citizen. Ms. Hidalgo was born and raised in the United States. While both candidates are pleasant, Ms. Wong offers the position to the candidate who matches the background of the restaurant and Ms. Wong. Her rationale is that, since both candidates

are equal in ability, she has a right to select the candidate she feels will best suit her business. Ms. Wong feels diners will expect to see Asian servers and bussers. No one was discriminated against, she maintains, because Ms. Hidalgo was not denied a job on the basis of race, but rather on the basis of what was best for business. Ms. Wong simply selected her preference from among two equal candidates. Ms. Wong communicates

her decision to Ms. Hidalgo. Ms. Hidalgo maintains that she was not selected because of her Hispanic ethnic background. She threatens to file a charge with the EEOC unless she is offered employment.

1. Do you think Ms. Hidalgo was denied the position because of her

ethnicity?

2. In the situation described here, does Ms. Wong have the right to

consider ethnicity as a bona fide occupational qualification