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Invidious

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(pronounced in-vid-ee-us)  adjective

Definition

1. tending to cause resentment or offense; creating ill will, envy, or animosity.   2. causing offense by slighting or discriminating unfairly.

Main Example

• Last year, the host of a public affairs program on Houston’s local ABC affiliate interviewed the four Republican candidates vying for the position of Harris County District Attorney. The interviewees comprised two men and two women--Jim Leitner, Doug Perry, Kelly Siegler, and Pat Lykos. In his opening round of questions, host Art Rascon addressed the two men as “Mr. Perry” and “Mr. Leitner,” while the two women were invidiously addressed as “Pat Lykos” (who ultimately went on to win the election) and “Kelly Siegler.” More on this and another similar incident in the author’s blog post at http://thearticulateprofessional.blogspot.com/2010/02/men-trivializing-women-in-professional.html

Workplace Examples

• I hate having to choose one person out of two or more equally qualified people. It puts me in such an invidious position.
• I realize you want to limit the number of guests, but if you are inviting everyone who contributed to the project’s success, you should certainly include the design folks. Leaving them out would seem invidious to me.

Other Examples

• while presenting a seminar on how to minimize the diminution of women’s communications in the workplace, this author saying: “When a female employee makes a comment or suggestion during a meeting, it’s not uncommon to see men just shrug it off or ignore it. But when a guy makes the same point just a few minutes later, the other men immediately endorse it. Even though in most cases this is being done unwittingly, it doesn’t make the slight any less invidious and abhorrent.”
• a colleague remarking: “I know that comparisons are always invidious, but when watching our new CEO in action, I cannot help but compare him to his legendary predecessor.”
• a recent study that shows that women still earn significantly less than men for the same task, leading some to charge that American business makes an invidious distinction between the sexes
• a few years ago, John Rocker, the Atlanta Braves relief pitcher, earning a suspension and a fine for his invidious remarks about African-Americans, immigrants, gays, and single mothers in a Sports Illustrated interview
• in 2005, some of the men serving with National Guard and Reserve units in Iraq making headlines by charging the Pentagon’s top brass with having acted invidiously, saying that soldiers belonging to the regular army were getting better and safer equipment
• the apparent invidiousness of the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) during the anthrax crisis in late 2001: As soon as a letter addressed to Senator Daschle was found to contain anthrax, the CDC ordered immediate testing of all Congressional staffers--even those who had not been in contact with the letter. However, the agency failed to test any of the postal workers at Washington’s Brentwood facility--which had actually handled that letter--until later on, when two Brentwood employees died of inhaled anthrax.

© 2010 V.J. Singal
No part of this may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author.

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