"Job Applicant Rejected For 'Ghetto Name' Files Lawsuit", 16 Jul 2019

It was either a Missouri company's bluntly racist hiring policy or a bizarre case of cyber crime that led to twenty job applicants getting messages that informed them their "ghetto names" made them unemployable. Whatever the cause, those messages have now led to a lawsuit. 

As the Riverfront Times reported last year, the situation began with multiple black women who had applied for positions with the Chesterfield office of Mantality Health, a Missouri-based chain of testosterone clinics. 

On August 13, 2018, the women received responses that flatly rejected their job applications — not because of their professional qualifications, but because of their names. 

"Unfortunately we do not consider candidates that have suggestive 'ghetto' names," the messages read, according to screenshots later posted to Facebook. "We wish the best in your career search." 

Among the recipients was Dorneshia Zachery, a 23-year-old living in unincorporated St. Louis County. According to a lawsuit filed last week, Zachery applied for a job at Mantality in July 2018. On August 13, the suit says, she received the alarming response aimed at her name. 

"The decision not to hire Plaintiff was based on Plaintiff’s race," the lawsuit contends. It later argues that the company's hiring policy violates the state's Human Rights Act, which prohibits job discrimination based on "race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, disability or age." (The law does not cover sexual orientation or gender identity.)

"We share the anger and frustration of those who received these bogus emails. Meuret said in a statement. In a subsequent interview with RFT, the CEO further alleged that the unnamed perpetrator intentionally signed the racist message with the name and contact info for another employee, Jordan Kimler...