Ford Motor Co told employees on Tuesday that it was changing a performance ranking system for managers that had become the subject of a growing number of lawsuits.
In a message sent to Ford employees, Jacques Nasser, the company's chief executive, said that Ford was altering its year-old performance evaluation system that graded managers and supervisors according to a letter-based ranking system.
Under the system, those who received the highest grade, an A, were the most likely to receive raises and promotions, while those who repeatedly received the lowest grade, a C, faced the possibility of dismissal.
Since the institution of the system at least six lawsuits have been filed against Ford asserting that the system was unfairly used to force out older employees and specifically white males in favor of younger and minority employees. Two of those lawsuits are seeking class-action status.
Anna Marie Gatteri, a Ford spokeswoman, said Wednesday that the changes in the ranking system were not made in response to the lawsuits. And Nasser also noted in his memo that the performance system had ``nothing to do with age or diversity.''
Under the old system, at least 10 percent of all employees were to have received a C. Earlier this year, that benchmark was lowered to 5 percent, Gatteri said.
Under the new system, the company's 18,000 managers and supervisors are graded with three designations: top achiever, achiever and improvement required. Gatteri said there was no longer any minimum percentage of employees that had to receive the lowest ranking.
Lawsuits against Ford have asserted that the ranking system was discriminatory because it encouraged managers to give older workers low grades because a manager's overall performance is based, in part, on his ability to diversify Ford's work force. The company has said that it wants to diversify its management ranks but that it does not have quotas.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique