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French Job Seeker Told to Change Name, Hide Religion for Employment
Saturday 5 October 2024, by
In a video shared on social media, a French woman of Maghrebi origin recounts how she was the victim of discrimination in hiring because of her first name and religion. The post sparked a wave of outrage on the web.
The young woman shared on X the audio recording of the telephone interview she had with an employer. In this audio, the latter informs her that her application cannot be accepted because of her first name. "Some clienteles do not mix with everything," she declares, before inviting the candidate to change her first name to get the job.
The employer then asks the young woman if she wears a religious symbol like the veil and respects prayer times. "You understand that I don’t want to end up with someone who abandons their post to go pray," she tries to explain, insisting that the candidate change her identity and have a "more French" first name.
Faced with this refusal, the French woman confides that she has filed two identical files, with different first names. Result: the file bearing the first name "Camille Dupont" was retained, while the one bearing her real first name was rejected. Proof that discrimination in hiring, based on race and religion, as well as Islamophobia, continue to prevail in the Hexagon.
The young woman’s post sparked a lively controversy on social media. LFI-NFP deputy Thomas Portes denounced "a new example of Islamophobia in France," calling on the Minister of Labor and Employment, Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, to take responsibility.