Burger King Still Bashing Vietnam Vets

BURGER KING CORPORATION, OWNED BY WALL STREET GIANTS STILL CRYING "BABY KILLER" IN THEIR 40 YEAR HISTORY OF VETERAN HIRING DESCRIMINATION
By JON CHAVEZ, BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

Are you a Vietnam veteran looking for a job at Burger King? You may not get the job, but it won't be because you fought in the war 40 years ago.

Like a window to the past, current job seekers at area Burger Kings will find application forms stating that the company will not discriminate "… because of status as a veteran of the Vietnam conflict. …"

Officials of Bennett Management Corp., the local franchisee that owns 31 Burger Kings in Toledo, Monroe and Kalamazoo, Mich., and Fort Wayne, Ind., said they weren't aware that their forms still made reference to Vietnam vets – an employment oddity because most job applicants working for the fast-food chain only know of the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975, via history books…

"I think [the language] came through our legal department and it must have been put there a long, long time ago," said Jim Rower, human resources director for Bennett. "I read it, but I guess it never struck me as unusual one way or another."

Christine Nazer, a spokesman for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, said federal labor law prohibits discrimination against all veterans.

So, language singling out Vietnam veterans is unusual, she added. "My impression is that they probably just worded the statement incorrectly or they have recycled old language."

However, Rick Weidman, a Washington, attorney who handles discrimination cases for the Vietnam Veterans Association, said the language served a useful purpose 20 to 25 years ago – a period when Vietnam veterans were facing job discrimination.

"Essentially, Vietnam vets were demonized. … It was hurting their careers in private business," Mr. Weidman said.

A study in 1984 found employers were less likely to hire veterans of the Vietnam era than nonveterans. Most said it was because they didn't want to hire someone who might be unstable, author James Bordieri of the University of Wisconsin said.

Robert Bennett, chairman and owner of Bennett Management, said a rewording of the language is probably in order.

Contact Jon Chavez at:
jchavez@theblade.com
or 419-724-6128.

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