If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, one topic has come up again and again: immigration. In the current political climate, immigration is a hot-button topic that evokes plenty of strong reactions. Still, immigration is a cornerstone of American life and the American workforce. With all the negative press lately, the mood in the country has turned more combative over these issues—and has started to affect people when it comes to applying for jobs.
A Vietnamese man named Minh Huynh had a particularly unpleasant exchange with an HR manager.
Huynh was applying for a job at Dash Delivery LLC and had plenty of relevant experience with the job.
Though Huynh is fluent in English, it remains his second language and he is always working to master grammar and vocabulary (which results in some grammatical errors from time to time). As he applied for the job, he received a dismissive email in return. Seeing her dad be mistreated, Huynh’s daughter Emily decided to post her dad’s story on Twitter.
What she didn’t expect is that the story would go viral.
After seeing how unfairly Huynh was treated, the internet responded with their support.
Shortly after the tweets were posted, twitter user @ocean_breeeeeze said that they worked at a law firm and were willing to help the Huynhs take legal action against the company.
Although the family chose not to take that route, the company was flooded with complaints and eventually the HR manager in question was fired. Shortly afterward, the company sent the Huynhs another email apologizing for what had transpired:
“Dear Mr. Huynh and Emily:
As the employer of Mr. Peterson, please accept my sincere apologies for the communication sent by Mr. Peterson to you. Mr. Peterson’s communication was inappropriate and inconsistent with our company’s values. Our company is an equal opportunity employer and it is proud of its diverse workforce. Indeed, the majority of the employees performing the work for which you applied speak English as a second language and they represent a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities. While it is true that communicating effectively in English is an important part of the job in question, the manner in which Mr. Peterson communicated with you was highly inappropriate and following our investigation he is no longer employed with the company. Thank you for bringing this to our attention and I hope you will accept my sincerest apology.”
At the end of everything, Emily and her father said they just wanted to move on and to forgive the wrongdoing—and that her father continues to practice English every day.
Above all, this story reminds us how important kindness and patience are.
Although Minh Huynh had done nothing wrong, the employer treated him disrespectfully. At the very least, Huynh deserved respect in his dealings with the company’s HR manager (of all people), even if they weren’t going to hire him. Fortunately, the internet came to his aid.
Good luck to you in the job search, Minh!
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