Job candidate receives rejection letter saying her name is too ‘ghetto’
Company apologises and claims it was hacked by a disgruntled employee
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A health company is claiming it was hacked after a job applicant received a rejection letter saying that candidates with 'ghetto' names would not be considered for a post.
Mantality Health, in Missouri, sent the email to Hermeisha Robinson stating: “Thank you for your interest. Unfortunately, we do not consider candidates that have suggestive 'ghetto' names. We wish the best in your career search."
The 27-year-old, of St Louis, had applied for a customer service job at the company.
"When I read the email I was just appalled," Ms Robinson said. "I don't understand why would they not consider me? Just because of my name?"
She added: “My feelings are very hurt and they even got me second-guessing my name, trying to figure out if my name is really that ‘ghetto’.”
The rejection went viral after she posted it on Facebook and urged people to share. “Discrimination has to stop,” said Ms Robinson, who was named after her father Herman who died when she was younger.
“Her mum loved that name,” her cousin Miltina Burnett said, according to the Daily Mail. “She is not going to change it.”
Kevin Meuret, the owner of the company – which offers testosterone replacement therapy – has now apologised and told the St Louis Post-Dispatch he believes a disgruntled employee hacked the email system and sent the reply.
He said it was one of about 20 sent to different job seekers.
“I'm a father of three daughters and that young lady getting that is horrible,” Mr Meuret said. “That young lady opened something that must have felt like a freight train and that's unacceptable.”
He added the company had launched an investigation with job hunting website Indeed.com to locate the IP address of the email sender and had filed a report with police.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments