The LuLac Edition #1953, February 19th, 2012

"Jobs" logo.

HIRE WHO THEY WANT

We’ve heard all about how tough it is trying to get a job in this economy but sometimes businesses make it worse by just shutting down applicants from the start. Right now the old way of stopping by an office with a resume in hand is as passe as platform shoes. If you are not computer savvy and can’t go on line, you are screwed. A few of my friends who worked in manufacturing all of their lives have enlisted people like me in their searches to help. Sometimes they are confused when there is no follow up by employees when a resume is sent on line. They join the club of many who believe that when the resume is sent on line, it just goes out into cyber city evaporizes never to return. The worst part about trying to get a job is blatant discrimination. Such was the case with this young man. From AOL News:
Eli Pierre has over a decade of experience in the food industry, and a rave recommendation from his last employer. So he was surprised when his interviewer for a position at a California Starbucks told him he'd be unable to work there. Now he's suing for disability discrimination.
The 25-year-old was born with half of a left arm. But this hasn't hindered Pierre (pictured at left) in service jobs, he says. "I've been employed for 11 years," he told a San Diego TV station. "I am fully capable of running circles around most people who have two hands in the service industry."
Pierre's former employer, Shawn Zambarda, the general manager at Titletown Brewing Company in Wisconsin, agrees. "He can carry more than somebody I have ever seen with two arms," he said.
But according to Pierre's complaint, during his interview Feb. 1 at a Starbucks in Mission Valley, the hiring manager wasn't convinced and said, "Oh, at our store our syrups are up high, and I have to extend my whole body to pump it. You can't work here with one arm."
I don’t know what’s more offensive here, the fact that the guy who interviewed Pierre thought he couldn’t do the job but the very fact that he said out loud he was sure the young man couldn’t do the job. I think back to a line from one of my favorite movies, “The Best Man”. One of the characters played by Lee Tracy says to another character played by Cliff Robertson, “I don’t object to the fact that you’re a bastard, it’s the fact that you’re such a stupid bastard is what I object to”.