Legal Definitions - favoritism

Favoritism occurs when someone in a position of power or influence gives preferential treatment or makes a selection based on personal connections, biases, or other non-objective criteria, rather than on a person's actual qualifications, performance, or merit. This often leads to unfairness and can create resentment among those who are overlooked despite being more qualified.

• Example 1: Workplace Promotion

  A department manager promotes an employee who is a personal friend, despite other candidates having more experience, better performance reviews, and superior qualifications for the role.

  This illustrates favoritism because the promotion decision was based on a personal relationship (friendship) rather than objective merit (experience, performance, qualifications). The more deserving candidates were unfairly overlooked.

• Example 2: Public Contract Award

  A city council member, who is part of the committee reviewing bids for a new public park construction project, strongly advocates for and ultimately helps award the contract to a construction company owned by their former college roommate, even though another company submitted a bid that was significantly lower in cost and had a stronger track record of similar projects.

  This is an example of favoritism because the council member's influence led to a decision based on a personal connection (former roommate) rather than the objective merits of the bids (cost, experience, quality). The public resources were not allocated to the most advantageous proposal.

• Example 3: University Admission

  A prestigious university admits an applicant whose academic record, test scores, and extracurricular achievements are notably weaker than many other applicants. The admitted student's parent, however, recently made a very substantial donation to the university's new library fund.

  This demonstrates favoritism because the admission decision appears to be influenced by a factor unrelated to the student's academic merit (the parent's donation) rather than the applicant's qualifications compared to others. More deserving students, based on academic criteria, may have been unfairly denied admission.