Sacked for not talking proper!

, Following the furore concerning Senator Harry Reid's remarks about Obama being electable because he had "light skin" and "no Negro dialect" unless he wanted one, we thought you would be interested in the below comments from Rob McCreath, employment partner at city law firm, Archon Solicitors. Perhaps this can be worked into a feature article piece? I look forward to hearing from you soon: “Senator Harry Reid's remark about President Obama being electable partly because he had "light skin" is obviously controversial. Perhaps more interesting is the comment about Obama having "no Negro dialect" (unless he wanted one) also being an advantage. Accent and dialect remain obstacles to well-paid jobs in modern Britain - often the result of racial and regional prejudice by employers. But there has been a shift. Regional accents are no longer generally frowned upon as they once were by employers of managerial and professional staff. Although a very strong accent which is difficult for others to understand will obviously be a disadvantage, so may an excessively "posh" accent. Some accents stereotypically fit with certain kinds of job. For example in practice a Glaswegian accent such as Sir Alex Ferguson's might well be an advantage for a candidate applying for a job requiring a tough, no-nonsense management style, but not for one requiring subtle diplomatic skills, regardless of the actual attributes of the candidate. The most acute obstacles to well-paid jobs are faced by those from minority backgrounds where the first language spoken at home is not Western European and those (mainly younger) people whose speech is excessively "street". Employers will be able to justify discrimination on such grounds where clear oral communication skills are required for the job and the accent or dialect causes a genuine problem. However, they risk falling foul of the race or age discrimination legislation if they make decisions based on prejudice, whether conscious or unconscious.” Contacts: Rob McCreath, Partner, Archon Solicitors: 0207 397 9650 r.mccreath@archonlaw.co.uk www.archonlaw.co.uk Lauren Alexander, Maltin PR: 020 7887 1357 lauren@maltinpr.com www.maltinpr.com A photograph of Rob is available at: www.maltinpr.com/rob-mccreath