Firms not practicing "equal oppurtunity" 7

[COEngineeer]

Ok, so I sent my resume to this one company a few days ago. I think I match the experience they need pretty good. I dont know what happened, but the person that received the email mistakenly replied/forwarded the email to me and said (direct quote) "Not sure, he looks pretty foreign, but has been here for a long time..."

I am from Asia. I have been in the US for 12 years. Went to undergrad and graduate school in the US. Got my experience in the US. I have a greencard. What would you do if you were in my situation? My wife (an attorney) thinks I should do something about it. I feel that I should just let it go. I did reply to her and pointed out her mistake and this is what she replied:

"I do thank you for pointing out my obvious ignorance. I do hope that you will accept my utmost apologies for my actions.

I have passed on your resume and someone will contact you if our manager feels you the experience that we are looking for.

Thank you again for your interest in our firm."

What do you guys think?

Never, but never question engineer's judgement

 

[jmw]

aye

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[zdas04]

I went to a lawyer once about a perceived discrimination issue and his advice was memorable. He said "What do you hope to gain from the suit? Do you think it will be enough to live on for the rest of your life (because once word gets out that you are an employee who sues his employeer you'll never find another job in your field)?" Same applies here, if you sue them they will offer you an interview that you'll "just miss getting hired". It might be fun to forward the e-mail to the company president with the question "do you think her comment was saying that I was over qualified or under qualified?" Won't do you any good, but it may make life a bit difficult for her for a while.

Chalk it up to experience and tell the story over beer for the rest of yor life.

David

 

[monkeydog]

Years ago, when I was discharged from the Air Force (was a crew chief (aircraft mechanic) on KC-135 tankers) the town I grew-up in had a job posted for a fuel truck driver/small aircraft refueler, along with other maintinance work around the small airport. I applied, had an interview, I still recall the conversation:

Interviewer - You would have to refuel aircraft with a fuel, which can be dangerous.
Me - I was a crew chief on tankers, refueling over 100,000 lbs of jet fuel everyday.
Interviewer - Well ok, but you would be responsible for a $50,000 fuel truck.
Me - I was responsible for a $10 million aircraft.
Interviewer - Thank you very much we will make our selection within a week.

Did not get the job, found out soon after the person hired had no experience with aircraft or fuel trucks. I filed a complaint with the EEOC, they had an investigation, found there were violations, most likely I was discriminated against, and the city came back and offered me a job as a custodian.

Moral of the story - Violations were found, They were in the wrong, and all they had to do was put some signs up in the employee break area stating it is illegal to discriminate.

COEngineer - don't waste you energy on this.

 

[JAE]

Good applicable story, monkeydog.

But I would still recommend filing a complaint with the EEOC...just not getting a lawyer.

 

[HgTX]

I like zdas's suggestion of forwarding the email up the company's food chain. Then again I'm a fairly vindictive kind of human.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[hokie66]

There seem to be quite a few "vindictive" posters here. I am glad COEngineer is more forgiving.

 

[COEngineeer]

I am still a little ticked off that they haven't even called me for an interview. I match the job description 100% and better. The job description said: immediate interview, immediate position.

Never, but never question engineer's judgement

 

[jmw]

Well, it would help to know exactly what you said to her when you notified her that she has misdirected her email to you and how you responded to her reply.
If you come across as touchy and easily offended then they may well be nervous about bringing you in.

Now OK. It is difficult for someone not directly concerned to understand how this might be perceived and it is interesting to note that the replies here range from forget it to take them out and shoot them.

My own reading is that what you have reported here is actually direct and factual observation. I'm sure I wouldn't like to overhear someone say of me that I was old, fat and lazy but if it were true I'd hesitate about getting too offended but I might be more productive in saying "so what?"

Based on my reading of what you reported she said, and if it had been me that had said it, I'd either wonder what the fuss was about or, recognising from your email that you were busy obtaining an email AK47, I'd probably have gone and hidden and hoped any problems would go away by themselves.

I thought her reply a you reported it was appropriate for what was probably a very innocent remark and which is how she probably really thinks of it.

Yes, discrimination and bigotry are inexcusable, but we all say stupid things at the wrong times and if all the stupid people were shot there'd be no one left.

So, my advice would be to look again at what was said and try not to take it as an offensive comment but simply a statement of fact.
I'd suggest going further and thanking her for her reply and said that no offence had been taken.

Then I'd wait to see whether I got an interview. (in fact I'd say to try and turn this to your advantage, by making her feel comfortable you put her under obligation to you and
you also represent to her, by so doing, that you can be trusted to be level headed employee.

But if I have been a bit snippy in my first email and not responded to her second, I'd not be expecting an invitation for interview if I were you, not because you don't meet the required standards but because you might be viewed as a potential future source of trouble.

Now I can hear people muttering over their keyboards, so I will admit that not being an Asian seeking employment in the US I may not understand that this was offensive.
Fair enough.
Have I ever been discriminated against?
I have no idea. I don't expect to be discriminated against so what people say a do I don't interpret as discrimination, even if it is (which by the definitions used today, much certainly is.) Of course, my family were victimised back in the early 1900's but not me.

So if I have been the victim, I didn't recognise it as such.
Oh, OK, I could characterise some of the behaviour toward me by some people as "class driven", or "stupidity driven" (never let people know you are smarter than they are) and no doubt, some of those jobs I went for I didn't get because I was too old or too fat or something. But there it is.

Oh, now I think about it, I guess I ought to get upset about all the anti-US remarks that have been said to me (or anti-British, it depends on whether they think I am one or the other) and Americans do get a lot of far worse things said to and about them abroad than what has been said about you but so what. I'm not going to get upset about something I could care less about.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[civilperson]

National origin is a protected status, citizenship is not a protected status. The difference is subtle but real. If the company hires Asian-Americans, then your case is unwinable.

 

[BJC]

Read "Sun Tzu - the Art of War". There is a section in there about picking battles you can win and passing up the ones you can't"

 

[josephv]

COEngineeer, good luck in your interview. I think you know what is best in your situation. Here is some information for you and the others.

BTW, I did not know this, but you can get someone else to file a complaint on your behalf in order to protect your identity (in case anyone is interested):

http://www.eeoc.gov/charge/overview_charge_filing.html

Here is an overview of discriminatory practices:

http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeo/overview_practices.html

 

[jmw]

BJC
I believe St. Ignatius Loyola goes one better:
Fight the battles you can win and accept the ones you can't and God grant you the wisdom to know the difference.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[hokie66]

COEngineer,

If you still want the interview, just call and ask to speak to the person in charge, and request to meet with him/her. A direct approach shows initiative.

This whole thing probably happened because the company received a lot of applications and one of the clerical staff was given the job of sorting out the ones with spelling errors. She made the mistake of committing her findings to email, then hitting the wrong button.

 

[melone]

Would everyone's advise still be the same if the email said "Not sure, he looks pretty black, but has been employed by others..."

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Would everyone's advise still be the same if the email said "Not sure, he looks pretty black, but has been employed by others..."

Considering the OP is Asian, I'd find it pretty damn hilarious. Oh, you were making a point there, weren't you... ;-)

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[hokie66]

Yes, my answer would be the same. Prejudice is prejudice. And ignorance is ignorance. And empathy is empathy.

 

[doberdorks]

Yes, my answer would be the same. Prejudice is prejudice. And ignorance is ignorance. And empathy is empathy.

Just to throw another wrench in the works, maybe that was a positive not a negative. I know that I prefer someone with local experience to someone with foreign (there are things unique to every area)... so "looks foreign but has been here a long time" to me would mean "worth talking to"... not likely, but another possibility.

SLH

 

[GTstartup]

nobody apologizes profusely for a postitive comment

 

[TheTick]

nobody apologizes profusely for a postitive comment

Guilt-ridden white liberals do it all the time. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[josephv]

Sometime ago, a government official in Ontario accidentally forwarded an e-mail in which she referred to an interview candidate as a "ghetto dude". This caused such an uproar, that the Premier of Ontario called the candidate to apologize.

This case is different, but we must keep in mind that racism still exists in North America (it is a historical residue of slavery and segregation). I saw this short film a while ago, which I really enjoy, and tackles job and discrimination issues:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XGJq8wrw5I