'Bless your heart, Boss': Interviewee gets denied a cashier position solely because of a chemotherapy-related gap in his resume, holds them accountable by taking the proof straight to the owner

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 16, 2024 7:00 PM EST

Trying to find a job is tough these days, so when you find a good one, hold on tight! But if you have a gap in your resume—for whatever reason—that makes the search nearly impossible. This guy in our next story exposed a flawed and discriminatory system by recording the conversation that pushed his patience to the limit.

If you're chronically ill, life is hard enough as is without the job market breathing down your neck alongside your medical bills. The delicate balance of continued employment coupled with the existential dread of being unhealthy is enough to make any job searcher crack under pressure. But without pressure, we'd never have diamonds. The gem in this next story makes us all want to cheer him on after he caught a manager at a prospective job telling him that the only reason he was "unhirable" was because he was disabled.

Keep scrolling for the satisfying story of a dude calling out a corrupt company for judging a book by its cover—for a cashier's job, no less.

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    Caught on a hot mic!
    via gilaxia from Getty Images Signature

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
     

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    "No Proof?" Oh, Bless Your Heart, Boss. oh no its the consequences o... I wouldn't be surprised if some are going to think this is fake, but I feel like other disabled people will find this a lil satisfying (especially
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    with how Human Resources offices across the board have sunk to new levels of gaslighting). I have a genetic condition that gives me a variety of weird disorders, including a
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    severe walnut allergy and cancer during my late teens. Since I'm in my 20's many people assume that I'm not as disabled as I actually am, but 90% of the time I just shrug it off.
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    I've experienced a lot of subtle disability discrimination at work, but I've never been at a company where they're comfortable flat out saying "we don't hire disabled people". Like, personally, I
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    understand the logic of accidentally discriminating against me because you're worried your company could give me an allergic reaction- but every disabled person is unqualified? Which eventually led me to this conversation:
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    Head of Human Resources, and Owner of [major company]: "I understand you had a...misunderstanding with your manager yesterday. I wanted to apologize any mix- ups."
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    Me: "No misunderstanding. Manager denied me a reasonable accommodation because you 'don't do them', and said your company doesn't hire anyone with a gap in their resume due to disability/illness.
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    Personally, I don't see how chemotherapy I had years ago affects my qualifications for working as a store cashier." Owner: "Those are serious accusations, which we will certainly look
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    into... Unfortunately none of our employee calls are recorded. So... there's nothing I can really do about a 'He Said, She Said' situat-" Me, cutting him off: "Oh- It's not. You're welcome to treat it as a 'He Said, She Said'
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    situation, if that's your decision. However, I Do have the conversation captured for my own records." Owner: "Y-. I'm sorry, let me understand You recorded your conversations with our employees?"
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    Me: "[State] is Single-Party Consent." I wish I could have seen his face when I clicked 'play' on my computer, and he heard my manager say that [Company] was going to throw out my resume only because I needed Chemotherapy awhile ago since
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    the Owner was "Particular". The silence on Owner's end, when he realized that his policies were caught on a hot mic, was priceless. I would add more details to
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    show just how bad this situation got before & after reaching out to "HR", but to be honest? The EEOC is about to traumatize them harder than I ever could
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    Puzzleheaded-Link181 I smell a lawsuit!! Get that cash !!
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    inzillah - Ohh lyes LOVE that you got to hold them accountable! Disability justice is so rare to find, but it sounds like he's about to have a big ol' justice delivered to his O' forehead. I hope it leaves an impression.
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    pretty-as-a-pic People treat the ADA as more of a "suggestion" than federal law...
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    UbisoftSuxDix SE
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