Employer Tells Black Woman Her Job Application Was Denied Because Her Name Is “Ghetto”

Chesterfield, MO — Hermeisha Robinson, an African-American woman who recently applied for a job at a clinic in Chesterfield, Missouri says that the company emailed her saying she did not qualify because she had a “ghetto” name. However, the company, Mantality Health, claims that their system was hacked and they would never treat an applicant that way.

On Monday, Robinson posted on Facebook a screenshot of the email she received from an employee at Mantality Health in response for her job application at the company for a customer service representative position. The message says, “Unfortunately, we do not consider candidates that have suggestive ‘ghetto’ names.”

“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,'” she wrote on the post.

Another woman, Dorneshia Zachary, said she also received a similar email. She told KMOV, “The company looked at my name and said we don’t care about what you’ve done in life your name is going is going to dismiss you completely.”

Kevin Meuret, the company owner, says it was a case of system hacking and a former employee must have gained access to their email system. He added about 20 applicants received the same email from the hacker.

“This is not a reflection of who we are as a company,” Meuret said. “This is deplorable.”

The company, together with the Chesterfield Police, have launched an investigation focusing on the possibility that the emails were sent by a different disgruntled employee who pretended to be Jordan Kimler, the name at the bottom of the email who is a real employee but, “has nothing to do with hiring.”

Meanwhile, executives at Indeed.com, the job-finding site where Robinson submitted her application, responded saying that there was not enough evidence proving that a system hacking happened.

Their statement said, “Account security is of utmost importance to Indeed and something that we diligently monitor. Account holders are responsible for use of their password and we recommend frequent updates and complete confidentiality of your password. Our investigation into this particular account shows no evidence of compromise.”