IT staffing and recruiting company Cynet Systems has apologised for its racist job listing that Twitter users spotted last week.
The otherwise fairly standard posting appeared on various sites, including LinkedIn, and began by stipulating that the job candidate be “Preferably Caucasian.”
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It should be obvious, but employment discrimination on the basis of race or color is illegal. And it’s only legal to prefer candidates of a specific age, sex, religion or national origin if there’s a “bona fide occupational qualification” that relates to the essence or central mission of the employer’s business.
Twitter user Helena McCabe noticed the ad and wondered how Cynet could think such a blatantly racist post was acceptable.
Others piled on:
Cynet Systems didn’t respond to the outcry until Sunday evening, tweeting that it had terminated the individuals involved in the post.
The company also apologized “for the anger & frustration caused by the offensive job post” and insisted the ad “does not reflect our core values of inclusivity & equality.”
Not surprisingly, people wanted to know how the ad had even been allowed in the first place.
One person pointed out that the post helped demonstrate the kind of bias people of color face in the job market.
Cynet Systems later sent HuffPost a statement from Co-CEO Ashwani Mayur, expressing regret for the ad and stating that “Both of our owners are Indian-Americans, our workforce is over 60 percent minority, and we are certified as a diversity supplier by the National Minority Supplier Development Council.”
The company said it is “looking at measures to catch offensive or outside-of-policy ads before they ever go live to ensure this can’t happen again.”
This story has been updated with a statement from Cynet Systems.