Hi Everyone,
It has been a while since I posted but felt I needed to share a recent experience of mine, my first job interview as a transwoman and the follow up call with the manager.
Last week I applied for a job vacancy at a 4 star hotel for a summer housekeeper position. The application was online so the first thing I did was use the first three initials of my legal first name (which is still male as I have not changed it) followed by all the basic information. This past Monday marked a week since I applied so I decided to get dressed and drive to the hotel and follow up with my application in person. The general manager decided to give me an informal interview since I was there, the manager asked me the basic interview questions and wasn't convinced that I was good for the job for unknown reasons. After about 30 minutes the manager asked if I would be coming to work as a male or female and after I told him I would appear as a female he asked me if I would like to work as a night auditor instead since I would have no contact with guests or other employees and I respectfully declined. He proceeded to tell me that he would speak with the Executive Housekeeper about bringing me onboard and told me he would get back to me on Tuesday.
I waited for his call and it never came, today I got an email from the HR department at the corporate level informing me that the manager decided to hire another person who was better suited for the position. I again decided to get dressed and visit the property to thank the manager for consideration however the visit went completely bad from the moment I arrived to the moment I left.
When I arrived the manager greeted me in the rudest way possible and asked what I needed as he was very busy and didn't have time to waste, after informing him that I received his email and just wanted to extend professional courtesy by thanking him personally. He just sat at his desk working on his computer while not even giving me the courtesy of making eye contact and saying thank you, he just said okay have a nice day. I contacted the corporate HR department and they told me that I had passed all background checks and was approved to be hired however they were told that the property manager did not want to hire me as he is not comfortable having a transgender person on staff.
I expected obstacles to be presented the moment I chose to identify as a transgender woman and today was no exception, I personally was disappointed that there are employees who work for major companies that still discriminate against people who they view as different.
Are you in the U.S.? If yes, you can report them to the EEOC. I don't know how strong your case is, but the fact that they asked you how you would present could be seen as an intent to discrimination.
If you live in one of the states that has transgender protections, you could report them to the state civil rights agency as well.
I don't know about America or the differences between state laws. If you're in the UK you could sue them quite easily for discrimination. It sounds like they deserve to be.
I live in Texas and our community has protection as of June 2015. I consulted a lawyer and was advised that the moment I was asked how I would present myself if hired could be taken as intent to discriminate, I knew the moment that I was told that there had to be a deeper reason for me applying for such a position and he demanded to know what the reason was that things were going to get bad however I kept a positive attitude and when I received the email and spoke to the manager I knew the real reason I was not hired and it was not because he or the company decided to hire someone else who would be a better fit.
I posted a complaint on the company's corporate website just to let them know of what I experienced but realistically I don't expect a response. I decided to post a video online about my experience with the hotel to inform others of what to possibly expect if applying with the company in the future.
Hit 'em hard and make 'em bleed. I hope your lawyer makes them PAY. The more we go after places like this, the easier it will be for the next generation of transfolk.
They might be discriminating, but never just show up to question what's going on with your application or to find out why they didn't hire you.
I'm surprised he even interviewed you the first time and I'm not surprised at all on how he acted on the second visit.
Quote from: KarinMcD on June 02, 2016, 05:40:08 AM
They might be discriminating, but never just show up to question what's going on with your application or to find out why they didn't hire you.
I'm surprised he even interviewed you the first time and I'm not surprised at all on how he acted on the second visit.
It might not be the best method however in my hometown it is more of "who you know, not what you know" hence the reason I visited the property. As a former HR manager when an applicants stops but the business to inquire on their application it showed me that the applicant is serious about working for the company as it shows initiative. While online applications are easier to manage it limits the hiring manager's ability to get to know the candidate.
The behavior of the manager was completely different the second time around and gave off the feeling that he was disgusted by me once he saw me present myself as a female. He had no issues with me on my first visit since I presented as male (I had court and the hotel is on the way home) however when I did what he wanted me to do (present myself as female) his attitude took a complete 180 degrees.
If his attitude was the same since the beginning I would not have made a huge deal about it however that was not the case which led me to believe that he chose to discriminate against me just because I am different and to be honest my lawyer did make contact with the corporate office and HR decided to offer me the job which I respectfully declined as I don't think it would be a good idea to work for the manager that did not want to hire me.
Sorry about all of your job struggles.. This is a little off topic, but totally random- Im just a SO but every time I see your name pop up on here it catches my eye.. because its my name- exactly First and middle !!! ;D ;D And even more ironic ontop of that-- I grew up in Texas until college and then returned there for a few years of dental school before restarting my dental journey in Philly. May I complement you on the spelling of " Brittany" I always tell my parents thank you for spelling it this way- its really the only way I actually like (no offense to anyone) and I always jokingly tell people that its the "right" way to spell it >:-)
Texas probably isn't the most accepting place to be transgender unfortunately. I hope things get better. :-(
As a part of my 'duties' I tend to be a professional hand grenade tosser for my hi-tech electronics manufacturing company. My big hot button issues are Safety followed by Stupidity, a very broad term :( In regards to my personal life I keep as low a profile as possible. "Standing Out" never turned out well for me.
These past many weeks, thanks to a state whose name I dare not mention, as well as lunacy of Horizon BCBS denying my HRT after saying OK last year (after an initial denial), plus BS with work politics, caused this old wanna-be hippie chick to go into Social Justice Warrior Mode with HR and our health insurance protected class discrimination "Trans Exclusion'.
Sometimes you just got to listen to your heart and not your head
I'm sorry it didn't go so well, that must have been a real bummer to say the least. I can't even imagine. At any rate, good luck with the job search! I know realistically, sometimes we only go so far, and pick our battlescarefully... But if you can make the company uncomfortable because of how they treated you, then go get 'em tiger!
J