Is it racist to not want to hire somebody because they smell like ethnic food?

[darockwilder]

Originally Posted by Table 5

What qualifies as ethnic food? Is Italian ethnic?

I think ethnic food is what people who don't vote for sovereignty in Quebec eat, at least according to Jacques Parizeau

[The Yen Man]

Really, I wouldn't be able to stand any food smell emanating from people, ethnic or not. Some of the nastiest smells are cheeses and salads from Greek or Italian foods, so I would have the same gag reflex if someone smelled of that vs. East Indian food.

Honestly, if some guy came in for an interview and smelled like cheese or ranch dressing, I wouldn't hire him. Or I'd tell him to take care of the smell before I hire him.

[GP_Matt]

I would have a hard time hiring someone who came in for an interview and smells like a chain smoker. You know the people who you can smell walking past your office. It is distracting in the workplace.

As for nauseous smells, it may just be me but we cooked indian food at home a while ago and the curry doesn't bother me at all, but we used ghee and as soon as that stuff hit the hot pan the smell started to make me sick. I have never been bothered before but the smell was strong enough that I threw all the food out, took the garbage outside and then opened all the windows, turned on all the fans and went out for dinner and a movie.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by HOOT

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.

I understand what you're saying, but when the smell is specific to one race, the question needs to be asked if it is actually the smell the interviewer has a problem with, or if there is a racist edge to denying the person employment. In this case, I thought it was a race issue more than a smell issue, but I could be wrong.

[normtwofinger]

A bit off-topic. Would you CPers who are landlords be alright with having curry cooked everyday in one of your rentals? If you knew ahead of time that a family is going to do this, would you still rent your place to them?

[return to the red]

beyond B O I find the most offensive smell to be the moth ball smell that is associated with gum disease and bad oral hygien

With regards to the OP, if the job applicant in question was qualified to do the job and met all the expectations of the job and it came down to him and a white guy and the white guy got the job i'm pretty sure "because the white guy smelled better" wouldn't be an acceptable answer

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

Honestly, if some guy came in for an interview and smelled like cheese or ranch dressing, I wouldn't hire him. Or I'd tell him to take care of the smell before I hire him.

Well that explains why Springs1 can't find a job.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by normtwofinger

A bit off-topic. Would you CPers who are landlords be alright with having curry cooked everyday in one of your rentals? If you knew ahead of time that a family is going to do this, would you still rent your place to them?

Wow great question. I have to admit it would make me uncomfortable.

[Weiser Wonder]

You guys act as if Westerners don't have a defining smell to other cultures. I don't know if that's true or not. Seems pretty presumptive anyway.

[habernac]

I've never been off-put by food smell, but we had a guy in the office who stunk to high heaven. One of our guys was trying to train him. He brough a bottle of febreze to decontaminate his work area when the guy left. Nasty.

One of the toughest conversations I've had to have in my work life was to tell a guy he needed to do more in the personal hygiene department. He had a few black teeth, it was tough to work anywhere near him.

[3 Justin 3]

I don't think it's racist if he smells bad (whether it's BO or nasty curry). If a white guy came in, a black guy, Asian, etc. came in and smelled of East Indian food I wouldn't hire them either. I wouldn't hire anyone who didn't smell "normal", someone could walk in smelling of Strawberry cupcakes and I'd still say no (that has more to do with me wanting cupcakes all day long then).

Plain and simple its hygiene, if they can't bother to change their clothes to the interview it's their fault.

[Sainters7]

This could be the greatest CP thread title I've ever seen.

...and for me it'd depend on how strong of a smell it is. If its overpowering, then yes I could see that. But if its just because the co-worker doesn't enjoy the slight smell of curry, that's getting a little silly. I'm sure the bag of nacho cheese Doritos from lunch on his breath doesn't smell much better.

[Ben_in_Canada]

You haven't mentioned the position.
If it is something where the guy would be working by himself in the field away from customers / co-workers it may be based on racism. But if the position works closely with others, especially customers it would seem to be a business related desicion to me.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I understand what you're saying, but when the smell is specific to one race, the question needs to be asked if it is actually the smell the interviewer has a problem with, or if there is a racist edge to denying the person employment. In this case, I thought it was a race issue more than a smell issue, but I could be wrong.

Fair enough and I understand where you are coming from. However if that person were to walk past your desk and tell you they didn't hire them because they smelt like KFC you probably wouldn't even bat an eye. The only reason this seems to be an issue is because the smell happened to align with his race.

Are there no other ethnic people that work for the company? What type of job was it for?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I understand what you're saying, but when the smell is specific to one race, the question needs to be asked if it is actually the smell the interviewer has a problem with, or if there is a racist edge to denying the person employment. In this case, I thought it was a race issue more than a smell issue, but I could be wrong.

I would assume the interviewee had an Indian name and if that's the case it's hard to conclude race is an issue for the employer as if it was why waste time and effort interviewing them in the first place?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Fair enough and I understand where you are coming from. However if that person were to walk past your desk and tell you they didn't hire them because they smelt like KFC you probably wouldn't even bat an eye. The only reason this seems to be an issue is because the smell happened to align with his race.

Are there no other ethnic people that work for the company? What type of job was it for?

Well, without giving all the details, I'll shed a little more light on this. I do need to maintain some discretion, unfortunately, but I'm sure you guys can understand.

• The job is in a factory in a hands-on position
• People of many races work in the factory
• The person not wanting to hire the candidate comes from a place that I would consider to be more xenophobic than Canada
• The position was posted for about six months. Eleven interviews in that time. This was the best candidate by a fairly wide margin in that time, save for the odor issue.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I would assume the interviewee had an Indian name and if that's the case it's hard to conclude race is an issue for the employer as if it was why waste time and effort interviewing them in the first place?

The interviewer is not the person setting up the interviews.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Well, without giving all the details, I'll shed a little more light on this. I do need to maintain some discretion, unfortunately, but I'm sure you guys can understand.

• The job is in a factory in a hands-on position
• People of many races work in the factory
• The person not wanting to hire the candidate comes from a place that I would consider to be more xenophobic than Canada
• The position was posted for about six months. Eleven interviews in that time. This was the best candidate by a fairly wide margin in that time, save for the odor issue.

Completly understand and was just looking for a vague idea of the position. Maybe for this person it was about race, but maybe it wasn't, it would be very tough to prove. It could even be somewhere inbetween where the person doing the hiring might not like ethnic people personally but would will still hire them if they qualify and in their opinion the stink was too much. I know I wouldn't hire someone who came in drenched in perfume regardless of their skill.

However it sounds like they shouldn't be overly picky if they can't fill the spot in 6 months with less than a dozen people applying.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

I didn't hire a guy once because he smelled like moth balls. I ####ing hate the smell of moth balls. And this is a position that required the guy to work closely with me.

My dad didn't hire a guy once because he reeked of durian. How he manage to get the smell on durian on him is a mystery, but he reeked of the odor and there's no way my dad was going to tolerate that in an office environment.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Sliver

The interviewer is not the person setting up the interviews.

Regardless IMO you are simply making a mountain out of a mole hole here looking for something that may or may not be there. Certainly something you can't prove without knowing whats going on in the head of the person making the ultimate decision. Everyday a hundreds and thousands of white people are not getting hired becuase of their odor or appearance. The hiring process by nature is a process of scrutiny.