00:05good morning welcome you must be here for the interview yes I am John Williams I have a 10
00:13o'clock with Logan Harris perfect let me let him know you're here huh make yourself comfortable
00:19okay okay he's here thanks he'll be right with you are you the candidate John Williams it's nice to
00:37meet you I I wasn't expecting this expecting what exactly well I didn't know about your
00:46um situation my situation well my situation is that I use a wheelchair and I'm here to interview
00:53for a management position that I'm highly qualified for right okay but you you gotta understand you
00:58know this job requires a lot of physical mobility moving around different floors visiting sites
01:03client meetings yeah I'm aware of the job requirements okay well you know what what if
01:09there was an emergency what if the elevators went out how are you gonna navigate that I understand
01:14your concern but those are questions that apply to any employee but you're making assumptions based
01:19on my wheelchair rather than my actual qualifications no no I'm not making assumptions I'm just being
01:24practical excuse me but um our office is fully accessible we have ramps and elevators and everything
01:35you could possibly need um maybe we should focus more on his experience and qualifications okay Mariah
01:43this really isn't your concern okay look I'm gonna be frank with you this position involves managing
01:48teams attending high-level client meetings you know people have a certain expectation on what a manager
01:54looks like are you suggesting that my wheelchair would prevent me from managing teams or meetings with
01:58clients I'm saying that maybe you'd be more comfortable in a different role you know something more um
02:03desk-based what's client facing I didn't apply for a different role I applied for this one and I have
02:09a right I have eight years of management experience you're right right experience on paper is different
02:14from real-world reality look you understand what I'm saying I understand exactly what you're saying
02:23good this doesn't seem right you're dismissing mr. Williams without reviewing his qualifications properly
02:36Mariah I need you to stay out of this okay this is a hiring decision you know maybe we should
02:43just end the
02:43interview now you know save us both some time I'd like to speak with your supervisor my supervisor you
02:50want to complain to my supervisor I want to speak with someone who will conduct this interview fairly yes
02:55fine I'll call Meryl she can explain the same thing I just did yeah Meryl we're gonna come to your
03:07office
03:07now we have a little situation with a candidate okay great we'll be right over come on let's go
03:20Meryl
03:25Logan what's going on well this is John Williams the candidate for the management position
03:31there are some concerns about whether he's the right fit need I say more this Meryl it's nice to
03:40meet you I'm hoping we can have a productive conversation about this position let me see your
03:44resume yeah sure I have it right here
03:56where'd you go to school I have an MBA from State University it's a well-respected program
04:02hmm we typically prefer candidates from more prestigious institutions for our management
04:09positions Harvard Stanford Yale right well State University has an excellent business program I
04:16graduated at the top of my class I'm sure you did well tell me about your previous management
04:21experience sure I worked at a fortune 500 company where I led a team of 15 people during my tenure
04:28I
04:28increased operational efficiency by 30 percent and and were you the only manager at that company who
04:33looked like you excuse me and were you some part of a kind of diversity initiative a quota system
04:39perhaps I was hired because of my qualifications of course but companies have diversity goals these
04:47days and sometimes that influences hiring decisions I'm just asking if that played a role my race has
04:52nothing to do with my professional capabilities or achievements look there are just a lot of factors
04:57here that make this not the right fit for our company and what factors are those exactly we need to
05:04consider the overall picture culture fit presentation how you'll represent the company I can't listen
05:11to this anymore what you're both doing is wrong Mariah please just no I won't you need to actually listen
05:20to mr. Williams qualifications his skills his experience not his wheelchair not his race okay this is not your
05:29place you're a receptionist act like one it is my place when I witness discrimination happening right
05:36in front of my face fine we'll hear what he has to say thank you I appreciate that as I
05:45was saying my
05:46management philosophy centers on okay how are you going to command respect when you can't even stand up
05:52during presentations when you're sitting down while everyone else is standing my leadership doesn't come from
05:58my physical position in a room it comes from my skills and experience we need someone who can
06:04represent this company at high-level meetings we have to consider how clients will perceive our
06:09management team what you're describing is discrimination pure and simple we're not
06:14discriminating we're evaluating practical concerns and culture fit exactly this is not personal no this
06:20is absolutely personal when you judge me based on factors that have nothing to do with my ability to do
06:24the job
06:24you both are making excuses for being prejudiced and it's shameful Mariah you're out of line okay
06:32you're defending him because he's your people but oh no no no no no no no you did it you're
06:40out of line
06:41both of you my people I can't work for a company that treats anyone this way regardless of their race
06:50you
06:50know what I'm done here okay you're gonna throw your job away over nothing over someone you don't
06:56even know it's not nothing Logan it's everything it's about basic human decency okay all right Mariah
07:07stop you're not going anywhere okay really dude that's not really your decision to make now is it
07:14actually it is my decision
07:23is this is this some kind of joke you're the CEO it's not a joke I came in undercover to
07:32test your hiring
07:33practices after receiving multiple complaints about discrimination in this department that's you can't
07:38do that yes I can I just did and you both failed miserably okay look there's been a misunderstanding
07:43we were just being thorough in our evaluation I heard exactly what you said Logan blatant ableism
07:49questioning whether I could command respect because of my wheelchair suggesting I'd be better in a less
07:55visible role and you questioned whether I earned my position or was just a diversity hire that's
08:01explicit racial discrimination I was just asking questions about your background you were questioning my
08:05competence based on my race there's no other interpretation okay mr. Williams please we deserve
08:11a chance to make this right your discrimination doesn't get second chances your employment is
08:17terminated effective immediately both of you get your stuff get out you can't fire us if you do
08:21we'll file wrongful termination suits I recorded this entire interaction on my phone the audio is
08:27clear you're both on record making discriminatory statements if you fire us this could hurt the
08:32company's reputation people will talk no what hurts the company's reputation is having discriminatory
08:39hiring managers who reject qualified candidates that is what damages our reputation okay sorry this is
08:44unfair we were doing our jobs your job is not to discriminate your job is to hire the best
08:51candidates regardless of their physical abilities or race we have families bills to pay so to the qualified
08:56candidates you rejected because of your prejudices collect your belongings and leave within the hour
09:01security will escort you out if necessary this is unfair what's unfair is you rejecting qualified
09:06candidates because they use wheelchairs or because the color of your skin that is unfair you'll regret
09:12this don't think I will thank you for speaking up oh well I couldn't just stand there and listen to
09:27that well most people wouldn't have risked their jobs to defend someone they just met that takes courage well
09:34it was simply the right thing to do it was and because of that I'm promoting you effective immediately to
09:41interim director of human resources with a significant raise what but I don't have HR experience you don't need it
09:50you just demonstrated better judgment about fair hiring practices than anyone currently in that department
09:55you showed integrity and integrity can't be taught oh are you serious that serious I need people who will
10:05stand up against discrimination even when it's hard even when it puts their job at risk yes absolutely
10:12yes I will do it thank you Mariah I expect you to hold everyone to the same standard you held
10:22Logan and
10:22Meryl to today including me oh I will and that's a promise
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