Home » Europe, Injustice, Suppression » Swedish fire service sued over affirmative action


Swedish fire service sued over affirmative action

 
 
 
 
submit to reddit

34818

Södertörn’s fire department, just south of Stockholm, is being sued for actively choosing to hire women and people with foreign background, according to Sveriges Radio (SR).

The fire deparment’s gender and ethnicity quota became an unpleasant surprise for Simon Wallmark, who was informed that despite having trained as a firefighter, he was not encouraged to apply for a summer job, on account of being Swedish and male.

“The response I got from Södertörn was that I wasn’t qualified to apply for the summer jobs, because the jobs were reserved for women and people with an immigrant background,” said Simon Wallmark to SR.

He agrees that there is a need for more women and immigrants in the field, but argues that the recruiting should be done some other way.

Out of the 32 people finally hired by the fire department, 10 lacked the relevant education for the job.

The case is now being taken to court by Stockholm-based Centre for Justice (Centrum för Rättvisa).

“This is a case of a Swedish man who has been denied the same chances as others, just on account of being a Swedish man” Anna Rogalska-Hedlund, lawyer at Centre for Justice, told SR.

The agency has past experience of cases against affirmative action, and are now demanding 100,000 kronor ($16,000) for the discrimination, on Wallmark’s behalf.

The fire department’s manager Anders Edstam has no regrets about the recruiting, explaining that they made a conscious choice to include women and immigrants, and that those recruits lacking the necessary education will be receiving it through the job.

Source

Please wait...


RELATED ARTICLES

Did you like this information? Then please consider making a donation or subscribing to our Newsletter.

Conversation Guidelines

Starting a conversation on our website is very easy, all you need to do is to write your name, email and the comment itself. No account is required to leave a comment. Your email won't be used for any purpose whatsoever, if you want, you can even write a fictitious email. Please keep it civil, try to refrain from slurs and insults. We offer Free Speech rights to our comment section but please take note that the comment section is moderated so certain comments may be held for moderation in case they triggered our automatic filters. If your comment is on hold for moderation and you can't see it anywhere there is no need to repost it. Don't worry, it doesn't mean it won't get approved. Please patiently wait and check back later.



Copyright © 2009 The European Union Times – Breaking News, Latest News. All rights reserved.