A Bengaluru woman has claimed that she was rejected after the final round of a job interview as her skin tone was ‘too fair’. In a LinkedIn post, Pratiksha Jichkar shared a screenshot of the rejection mail purportedly sent by the organisation she had applied to, which stated that the decision was made to avoid differences within the team.
She added that though the company preaches about inclusivity and equal opportunity, the world was still judging people based on colour, religion and other criterias.
“In the world where we are promoting skill based opportunities, boosting immense learning potential through AI, creating extraordinary technologies and then not hiring folks because we are still the same society who hold grudges and biases,” she wrote.
She said that she will not name the company but instead urged other organisations to fix their work culture and be open to people with talent, skills and potential.
Jichkar reportedly had to go through three rounds of interviews and one assignment before she was turned down despite meeting all the required skill sets.
The email read, “…thank you for interviewing with us and being patient throughout the process. Unfortunately, we cannot move ahead with you for the role at this time. We found your profile relevant and all skills and qualifications match what we are looking for but we are an inclusive organisation and believe in equal opportunity for all.”
“Your skin tone is little fair for the current team so we don’t want differences in our internal team, and we decided not to offer you,” the note concluded.
Jichkar added that the reason for rejection left her “stunned and shocked.”
It also reached other social media platforms like Reddit and Twitter, where most people raised doubts about the authenticity of her story.
The post, which was shared on Twitter and Reddit by other users, was met with scepticism as users commented that no company or no HR professional would send such an email.
One user wrote on Reddit, “I understand diversity hirings sometimes end up being unfair to some, but that wording is never gonna be put in official mail by any half competent HR lol. This is a rage bait.”
While one Twitter user termed it a ‘publicity stunt’ another called it ‘fake’ and said, “HRs don’t give reasons for rejection on the face/phone and will send on the email and that too like this. Not a chance.”
“This is not fair,” another quipped in an apparent dig at the reason for rejection mentioned in the screenshot.
Others noted that Jichkar had turned off the comments on her LinkedIn after being criticised for the post.
