If it is a matter of personal hygiene then yes, that is a perfectly legitimate reason not to hire someone, even if they are from another culture.
There are responsibilities for the job seekers who want to apply for jobs to learn more about Canadian workplace Culture. There are many amazing Immigrant serving agencies in and around Calgary which help service that market.
I feel you may be leaving out some details or putting some spin on this - it seems like it is a little more than just smelling like 'ethnic food'.
I assure you 100% of the issue is smelling like ethnic food. There is truly nothing more to the story than "Yes, that is the best person I've interviewed and most-qualified for the job. No, I don't want to hire that person because they smell like ethnic food."
An East Indian man was living in an apartment down the street from a convenience store with his family. Every morning he would come into the convenience store to buy some milk for his family.
After several months of this the shopkeeper says to the man:
"Considering the amount of milk you buy, you should just buy a cow, it would be cheaper."
The man laughs and goes about his way.
After a few weeks however the shopkeeper notices that hes stopped coming in to buy milk. One day he runs into the man on the street and asked him why he had stopped coming in to buy milk.
The East Indian man says to him:
"I thought about it and I decided to take your advice and I bought a cow and I keep him in the apartment with my family."
"Really" says the shopkeeper, "what about the smell?"
"Oh, he got used to it."
The moral of the story is that the shopkeeper should have kept his fat mouth shut.
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They were likely clean, but if he is Indian, he likely lives in a house where Indian food is cooked. It doesn't matter if the food gets on your clothes, and it doesn't matter if they were washed just before going out. It will remain with you. Trust me.
I think if you eat a lot of it, the odour comes out of your pores.
I remember eating a tonne of Indian food before and the next morning when I went for a run, my sweat smelled like it. I also recall the same thing happening after eating a lot of onions.
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I think if you eat a lot of it, it comes out of your pores.
I remember eating a tonne of Indian food before and the next morning when I went for a run, my sweat smelled like it. I also recall the same thing happening after eating a lot of onions.
I believe it varies from household to household and level of personal hygene. Known lots of East Indian people that never smelled but I have encountered some especially in the gym perspiring that smell so bad it is honestly tough to take in large doses so if the guy was sweating during the interview it probably didn't do him any favours.
I think if you eat a lot of it, the odour comes out of your pores.
I remember eating a tonne of Indian food before and the next morning when I went for a run, my sweat smelled like it. I also recall the same thing happening after eating a lot of onions.
My fiancee is Pakistani and we both love Indian food, as well as Pakistani food. Her family cooks a lot of of both, and when she was little, she would always be scared she would stink of it in school. Her family still is afraid of what that smell can do to a home. It doesn't help that both types of food are normally eaten with your hands, either.
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My fiancee is Pakistani and we both love Indian food, as well as Pakistani food. Her family cooks a lot of of both, and when she was little, she would always be scared she would stink of it in school. Her family still is afraid of what that smell can do to a home. It doesn't help that both types of food are normally eaten with your hands, either.
I know plenty of people from the Asian Subcontinet and they don't "smell". I also know plenty that do "smell".
They were likely clean, but if he is Indian, he likely lives in a house where Indian food is cooked. It doesn't matter if the food gets on your clothes, and it doesn't matter if they were washed just before going out. It will remain with you. Trust me.
That is not true! Whatever food you're making if you turn on exhaust, open windows, etc etc., the smell doesn't linger, even if it has strong onion and/or one of those "ethnic" flavor mixes content. Also, keeping closets door and room doors closed completely prevents it. Its totally about hygiene and taking care of clothes.
I say this from experience.
About the topic, I think if the guy smelled bad, he needs to get rid of that as it has a negative affect on business if you smell bad. I would not hire someone. If they were really someone I wanted, I would actually tell them to take care of the smell. If they're offended, well then, its their loss. People get a bad impression if you smell like food - regardless of what food and what race you are. Especially if your job reqires being around customers/clients a lot.
Last edited by Kipperriffic; 06-13-2012 at 01:32 PM.
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Somebody I know was in a position to hire somebody, but chose not to for the sole reason that the candidate smelled like ethnic food. I think that's completely racist, but their argument was the smell made them physically ill for whole day after only spending ~20 minutes with the person. I don't see how that is possible and called the person out, but they are standing by their guns that in spite of being well qualified, the candidate should not be hired because of the odor.
Also, is it even legal to not hire somebody for that reason?
Thoughts?
Yes, it's racist. If they just smelled like food/spices and have good hygiene.
What if position was reversed and he was hiring? It wouldn't be right for him to discriminate based on what food you eat.
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As you can see, I'm completely ridiculous.
I know plenty of people from the Asian Subcontinet and they don't "smell". I also know plenty that do "smell".
I have no idea why some do and some don't.
They may eat a different Indian cuisine, maybe they don't eat it at all, or maybe they don't use curry powder very heavily. I do know that curry powder has a way of latching onto everything it makes contact with. If it gets in the carpet, etc., it is extremely difficult to get out.
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Well, straight up, you guys have shaken my confidence in my position. I do think this is racist, but I guess wouldn't be able to prove it. Also, maybe my nose isn't as sensitive as other people's, but I've never encountered a smell like this (apart from BO) that I find as off-putting as this person I know and some of you guys.
I still think you shouldn't deny a qualified candidate employment because they smell like different food than the stuff you eat, but I guess I'm in the minority on that one.
That is not true! Whatever food you're making if you turn on exhaust, open windows, etc etc., the smell doesn't linger, even if it has strong onion and/or one of those "ethnic" flavor mixes content. Also, keeping closets door and room doors closed completely prevents it. Its totally about hygiene and taking care of clothes.
I say this from experience
Dude, it's a well known problem, acknowledged among Indian people, that the smell of the food tends to linger. I'm not saying this to be mean. I also know this from experience.
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"An adherent of homeopathy has no brain. They have skull water with the memory of a brain."
Somebody I know was in a position to hire somebody, but chose not to for the sole reason that the candidate smelled like ethnic food. I think that's completely racist, but their argument was the smell made them physically ill for whole day after only spending ~20 minutes with the person. I don't see how that is possible and called the person out, but they are standing by their guns that in spite of being well qualified, the candidate should not be hired because of the odor.
Also, is it even legal to not hire somebody for that reason?
Thoughts?
WWMSD
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Curry is a wonderful seasoning, but its odor can be a nightmare to remove from an apartment or a residence. Curry embeds itself in oil molecules where it continues to decay and penetrate permeable surfaces, especially fabrics. To successfully rid the problem, you must destroy the grease molecule. Professional ozone generators are costly, but it is less drastic then stripping the residence to the floor boards. Before endeavoring to such matters, try using a microbial agent and replacing the heater filter.
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It's not racist IMO. It's a matter of cleanliness. If a guy came in smelling like raw onions and bacon drippings and it made me ill, I'd not hire him just the same.
I still think you shouldn't deny a qualified candidate employment because they smell like different food than the stuff you eat, but I guess I'm in the minority on that one.
I don't think it has anything to do with different food than the stuff the interviewer eats. I'm sure if someone came in there smelling like KFC, McDonalds, or any other nasty food smell caked on them they same thing would happen. I wouldn't want to work with someone who has an overpowering smell doesn't matter if it's indian food, perfume, chicken, or whatever.
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