Bumble’s women-only networking feature isn’t a job discrimination tool

Article here. Excerpt:

'Despite Bumble’s intentions, it’s true that the filter could be misused in ways that could be illegal and discriminatory. Women looking for other women to make professional connections with or find mentors doesn’t pose a legal problem, but if employers are looking to use Bumble Bizz to hire candidates, they should be thoughtful in how they use the filter.

“Many companies justifiably want to improve the representation of women in their workplaces to remedy historic discrimination against women,” says Andrew Elmore, a University of Miami law professor who specializes in employment law. “So recruitment of women from social networking sites can be a lawful, and important, way to ensure that a broad array of candidates have access to employment opportunities.”

Recruiters could use the filter as a tool for finding candidates, but they can’t use it to discriminate against or rule out men from a position. If a recruiter were to use the app and only consider women for the position, that could be a violation of Title VII, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, and religion.'