Afro-Swedish man gets paid damages

subscriber | 27 November, 2008

JOHANNESBURG. The Afro-Swedish man who during a job interview in Sweden repeatedly was asked if he had Aids will get paid damages by the butcher's where he interviewed. During trial of the case brought by the Swedish Ombudsman Against Discrimination (DO), a settlement was reached resulting in the butcher's paying the man SEK 35 000 in damages.

Earlier this month, the Swedish Labour Court is hearing the case that was highlighting the discrimination that Afro-Swedish people meet on the Swedish labour market - and in every day life, said (DO) before the trial.

”Unfortuntately Afro-Swedes are discriminated against in today’s Swedish society because of the color of their skin,” said Johan Hjalmarsson, head of DO’s development unit and responsible for DO’s work with the Afro-Swedish group. “It doesn’t matter if they are born here or have moved to Sweden; they are continually met with discrimination in every day life that’s built on preconceived notions and negative ideas about Africa and Africans.”

When bringing the case to court, DO had asked for damages in the amount of SEK 80 000.

In November 2006, the man, who lives in the Swedish region Västmanland, but originates from Gambia, was at a job interview at a local butcher shop.

The man had both training and experience for the job, the Ombudsman says. While at the interview and asked to change into a work uniform for a practical job test, he was asked if he had Aids.

The owner of the butcher shop admitted that the question is not asked routinely, but was asked specifically because the applicant was from Africa, said DO. The applicant, who became very offended and upset by the question, left the butcher shop.

According to the Swedish National Food Administration the question whether someone is HIV positive has no place during an employment interview, DO cites.

DO's Hjalmarsson explains that unfortunately this kind of treatment of African people is quite common in Sweden. He sees the incident as endemic of the “color-specific” racism and discrimination that Afro-Swedes often meet on the Swedish job market. “It’s important that Sweden now gets an increased awareness about this serious problem and that ‘Swedish-ness’ is updated,” he concludes.