Some folks think discrimination is over. They believe there is no more “true” bias among us, these days. Well, that is not true. The Dallas Independent School District has demonstrated that bias among upper management is still with us. The head of the Dallas ISD Human Resources department has resigned, as has one of her assistants in the wake of a scandal involving Instant Messages between the head and her staff. Carmen Darville would, I am sure, like to rescind many of those IM messages. In those messages, she and others poked fun at employees based on race, religion and age. Ms. Darville and her staff disparaged their co-workers and discussed ways of getting rid of them.

The superintendent, Mike Miles, apologized for their comments. Ms. Darville apologized for an “error in judgment.” Yes, I am sure she does, now. She was the head of HR. Not only should she have known better, she was also responsible for developing a work place free of discrimination and bias

Most of the discussions were between Ms. Darville and a HR Senior Executive Director, Tony Munoz. Mr. Munoz talked about pressuring one woman into quitting. Sure enough, a few weeks later, the worker, a 14 year employee, said she would be leaving due to medical reasons caused by stress. How often I have heard a similar story from the worker. See Dallas Morning News report.

The investigation apparently started with the allegations regarding another Executive Assistant who had not disclosed a long ago felony conviction. I cannot determine from the news report if someone saved these IM messages, or if they were produced as part of a forensic exam of someone’s computer. In either event, it is disappointing to see the head of  HR for a major employer flouting the anti-discrimination laws so readily.