Employer Refuses To Hire A Woman Because She’s ‘Too Fat.’ Does Appearance Matter Over Ability?

Some hiring managers do not hire people who are overweight, which is bizarre, to be honest. In several cases, the candidates who have the right skill sets or personality failed to get hired because the employers were not impressed by their appearance. One such case was shared by a recruiter on LinkedIn recently where the boss refused to hire a potential employee because ‘she’s too fat,’ body shaming on another level!

Faye Angeletta is a recruitment director from the UK. She shared her shocking experience about an employer who suggested an interviewee was too fat for a job. She said that she was “lost for words” after a potential employer commented on an interviewee’s weight as an excuse to not hire the interviewee who had the right skills for the job.

When Angeletta asked the employer how the interview went, the unnamed employer said: “The only thing bothering me is she isn’t the slimmest of girls… I’m not being sizeist but it was rather off-putting.” Umm, the person is actually being a sizeist over here and the only ‘off putting’ thing is the recruiter’s behaviour and rude personality toward other people. They also added that a person’s look is key to the role.
                                                                                                                                                                           

She said that during her time in recruitment for roles in new home sales, she’s heard many reasons for rejecting a candidate including some funny ones like, “they had the worst garlic breath I’ve ever encountered,” “big fat no – he reminded me of Piers Morgan on speed,” “they were stroking a cat at on their lap the entire zoom call like Dr. Evil” but none like this because this is straight up body-shaming.
                                                                                                                                                                   

In a LinkedIn post, she said: “It is an industry full of drop-dead gorgeous people. In customer-facing roles, there is an expectation for presentation and it comes without question you need to look the part on site. However, if you want to recruit on the basis of appearance over ability, maybe try a modelling agency.” True that!

Angeletta did not waste much time and pulled the candidate from the running process for the role and made the client aware she was no longer interested in working with them. In response, the employer hung up on her with some other rude words. As expected!

As per Indy100, Angeletta described the employer’s comments as shallow and arrogant. She said: “You are free as an employer to share your concerns with a recruiter over presented candidates, but there is a line when it becomes discrimination and frankly, insulting. Think twice about the words you choose when providing feedback, the candidate deserves to know why it’s a no but not to feel bullied from the process. Constructive feedback which can provide areas for improvement for the candidate for future interviews is the best thing you can give an unsuccessful candidate. That and basic respect!”

Also Read: Sweden Is Finally Ready To Welcome Their First Female Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson

Discrimination is literally everywhere but such remarks can leave many people to suffer in silence at work. It really is nobody’s choice to be overweight and it should be nobody’s business to worry about other people’s weight. And if they are right for the job, then why even bother if they are underweight or overweight. Does appearance really matter over ability?

Woman On Twitter Called Out Fat Shaming But Ended Up Invalidating Thin People’s Struggles. Empathy Has To Be Inclusive!