Questioning the process, the applicant detailed in a social media post that they had applied for a job that required them to enter tax documents, review client documentation, organise files, check data accuracy, and support tax preparers. Despite the job description making it seem like it was not heavily client-facing, HR rejected them.
In a bizarre case, a job applicant from Europe said they were rejected for a remote junior tax accountant role for not having an American accent.
“After I finished, she told me straight away that I have a “very strong accent,” that the company pays a lot of attention to accents because the role is client-facing and clients complain, and that I should have an, ‘American accent or no accent at all,'” the applicant wrote. “She then said that because I have an accent, she could not offer me anything, and ended the interview,” they added. “What confused me is that I’ve been living in Europe for around six years and have studied and worked in English throughout that time,” they said. The applicant said they understood if it was a client-facing role, but saying someone needs an “American accent” for a backend job seemed odd.
As the post gained traction, social media users empathised with the applicant and questioned the recruitment team’s decision. “No accent means ‘no immigrants’. This is very thinly veiled racism, and is right on the limit of illegal discrimination. You don’t want to work here. If you can be understood, then it’s ridiculous. I’ve worked with people; it took me weeks to tune into their accent, but once I had it it was fine. Sounds like they flat-out rejected you on that basis alone, which is illegal, I would hope.”
Move,” said one user, while another added: “Yeah that’s actual factual racial discrimination; if you want to, you could absolutely file a complaint with the board of labor wherever they are. A fourth said: “Ridiculous.
