Posted on 10/24/2014 10:49:00 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
Is this a violation of the first amendment? A man is left confused and frustrated after he feels he was denied a job based on his tattoos.
A man is left confused and frustrated after he feels he was denied a job based on his tattoos.
Bill Roach reached out to Eyewitness News because he thinks he was a victim of discrimination and was treated unfairly.
He said the tattoos arent gang related and shouldnt be an issue. Hes proud of them, and they all mean something to him.
My right arm is nothing but music, he said. You know, songs.
Some mean more than others. He has the lip prints of his wife on his neck, plus a tribute to his first-born son, Ryker.
So, my neck is the footprint from when he was born, his name, and his birth date, said Roach.
Now those tattoos mean something else entirely difficulty in finding a job.
He recently applied for a position in the medical industry, and even though he passed a test, he didnt get called back for a first interview.
She said, No, the only reason were not hiring you is because of your tattoos,' said Roach. I dont know what to do. I feel like I was bullied. I feel like I was treated unfairly and misled, and I dont know why.
Eyewitness News isnt naming the company, because it didnt break any laws. But, we did reach out to the company officials. They said they cant comment because its a personnel matter.
We know that every action or choice has a consequence, said Holly Culhane of PAS Associates, a human resources consulting company.
She said its a problem employees have all the time, but theres a difference between legal and illegal discrimination.
There are certain areas that you cannot discriminate based on, said Culhane. So, were talking about race, color, religion, sex, national origin, as example of those.
Thats why she said employers should make their practices clear.
So, they might want to ask the question up front or they might want to just ask for the policy, she said.
But, Roach said thats exactly what he did and was told by a manager that it wouldnt be a problem.
I pulled my stuff up, and I showed them I had tattoos, said Roach, and I wanted to be up front, because to avoid wasting my time as well as theirs and he encouraged me to take the test and said, you know, dont worry about it.
He said hes never had a problem with his tattoos before and is well qualified and deserves a shot. He said he wouldnt have been upset if they told him up front. Instead he had to take a day off work and now feels like his time and money were wasted.
"If I have a family member thats sick or dying, I dont care if the persons (working in the medical job) got tattoos, he said. If theyre there to help my family member and here to save their life, I think the last thing going through someones mind when theyre going through an emergency is that I have tattoos. Im sure theyre more concerned about, Help my loved one.
Roach said he is writing a letter to Congress, seeking to make tattoo discrimination illegal unless they are hateful or gang related.
As tattoos become more and more prevalent in society, we need to decide if this issue is covered under a 1st amendment or should it be left up to the employer. You decide
..
He looks.....anemic.
What kind of free speech do these tattoos imply...”I’m stupid” maybe?
Auto-correct or blunt honesty?
A tattoo or 2, is no big problem but people who have tattos all over their bodies are sick. Especially if they have neck and face tattos that they can’t hide.
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