A Black man has filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against a hotel in Detroit, Michigan, alleging the hotel only offered him a job interview after he changed the name on his resume, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by CNN.
Dwight Jackson filed the lawsuit against the Shinola Hotel on July 3, alleging he was denied a job when he applied as “Dwight Jackson,” but later offered an interview when he changed his name to “John Jebrowski.”
The lawsuit alleges Jackson was denied a job in “violation of Michigan Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act.”
Hope he wins
I hope this is not a thing either. Issue is the proof, bigots aint putting this shit in emails unless they are trump voters.
But from statistical angle it is getting hard to justify the bullshit system wide but every wrong is settled out if it is that bad.
Nobody is ever at fault tho
Oh Detroit, you so silly.
Edit:: fixed link
Is ‘Dwight Jackson’ a black sounding name? I’d have assumed the person was white if I’d read that name.
Dwight not so much, but Jackson, yes.
To the point that “Jackson” became jazz/jive-era slang that was the equivalent of “hey, what’s up?” when black people who used that slang were talking to each other.
It’s also an extremely common surname for those of English/Scottish/Irish descent. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_(name)
I’d be more willing to buy that they looked him up on social media and didn’t like what they saw. Whether or not that was his profile picture (race), or something he posted, is something I can’t answer.
But the name alone isn’t something I’d believe.
Agreed, it may just be a case of they weren’t hiring but then they were or the first resume was lost or a different manager looked at the resume. There are so many reasons what it could be that it shouldn’t be assumed race was a factor unless the hotel specifically said so.
Edit: reading the article I can see the guy applied many times before changing his name. I am slightly more convinced it was based on his name but it could still be they weren’t hiring but then they were. Or maybe they just wanted to meet the guy with such an awesome sounding name “Jabroski” sounds like something you would say in the 90s when Pauly Shore was popular. Memorable names stand out and make an impression.
these, among others, are the reasons why i didn’t take the same action when i resubmitted my resume under a very WASPy sounding name and the desire gets re-ignited every time i get an interview request after re-submitting my resume the same day my original resume was rejected.
Over 50% of the people with that surname are Black.
https://discover.23andme.com/last-name/Jackson
That’s nationally too. So in a place like Detroit with a large Black population, I feel like people would assume Dwight Jackson was Black.
Also need to take location into account here. Detroit is 77% black Seems it would be pretty easy to show discrimination is there is a hotel in Detroit that is lacking in black employees.
Middle-aged white guy here. First and last names, total white bread. Middle name? Black. Think “Tyrone” or “Trevon”. (LOL, Trevon shows a spell check error on one of the top 20 black male names.)
Couldn’t get a response on my resume for 6-weeks, nada. Changed the email to take out my middle name. Next week, 3 interviews and a solid job.
Had a black neighbor with a valley girl accent show up to an interview. 8 white girls waiting for their interviews. They showed her the door and said there was a mistake, no openings. She eventually got hired since her preacher was a top dog at the place.
The good thing about racists is that they’re fucking stupid. Just interview the person and say nothing instead of making up an obvious lie.
8 white girls waiting for their interviews. They showed her the door and said there was a mistake, no openings.
This is baffling. She could clearly see the other girls, yeah? All applying for the same position?
How do you dismiss one candidate in front of others, and say there are no openings? I don’t get it.
Well maybe she misread the room? 🤔
Arrives for the interview and there are 8 white girls, in scrubs, in the waiting room. Also, the person who was to take her in the back for the interview was visibly shocked.
My wife is a Filipino and I’m shocked at what she’s encountered in interviews.
“Are you Mexican or Asian?” Visible disgust at Asian.
“Are you a Christian? Oh. A Catholic. You have to attend our church every Sunday or we won’t hire you.”
Bonus points: Her first name is sorta black sounding. Told her to work around that somehow. Because I had to.
I have a Latin surname. I am sure it’s cost me in some circles. But in others it’s an advantage. At least for me I think it kind of evens out.
I’m beyond shocked, I figured it was Texas.
There is clearly a LOT of discrimination that happens in the hiring process and basically no oversight or accountability. How else can workers fight discrimination like this without going to the lengths that this man did?
How else can workers fight discrimination like this without going to the lengths that this man did?
and these lengths aren’t enough; i’ve been doing the same thing that this guy has done for nearly 20 years now and i’ve spoken with 3 lawyers who advertised working on contingent and the common thread is that one instance is not sufficient enough proof in court; you would have to submit at least dozens to hundred over a period of years to prove anything.
the best anyone can do is compile a list of companies to avoid or not spent much bother when it comes to applying and, given my experience, i hope that this guy isn’t paying for it upfront like the lawyers i’ve spoken with wanted from me.
