You'd think that basic professionalism (and you know, decency) would stop someone from writing insulting, racist remarks in their workplace correspondence. Tell that to human resources employee who is now out of a job after mocking an Asian American prospective job applicant's English in an email.
Minh Huynh is a Vietnamese immigrant who is still working on his English. He speaks Vietnamese and Cantonese; English is his third language, my friends. He had inquired via email about a job at Dash Delivery LLC in Seattle. The reply he received, from hiring manager Bruce Peterson, blatantly mocked Mr. Huynh's English skills, stating, "Let me tell you now, if you no speak English, I will send you home."
Mr. Huynh's daughter, Emily, saw Peterson's email and posted a screenshot on Twitter, calling out the response as "very unprofessional and passive aggressive." Once the internet got hold of story, it was on.
Non-English speakers really have it hard bc my dad just got rejected from this job offer and the email literally stated “Let me tell you now, if you no speak English I will send you Home-“ Wtf.. + all of Bruce’s emails we’re also very unprofessional & passive aggressive pic.twitter.com/YDXNHVW7bH
— wowie its emily (@staleboba) January 23, 2018
This is heartbreaking. A lot of children of immigrants can relate to Emily's situation. It's one thing to have parents who are limited-English-proficient -- this is true of so many Asian American families, and comes with unique challenges -- but to witness this kind of mockery and bigotry directed at our parents, it's incredibly frustrating and painful. So many of us can see some version of our loved ones in Mr. Huynh's experience.
Update: My dad isn’t that hurt, he just doesn’t fully understand the concept of someone not hiring him for his lack of English when he has more experience than most people. pic.twitter.com/xa2DA9kn7h
— wowie its emily (@staleboba) January 23, 2018
Not long after her tweet went viral, the Huynhs received a message from the company. Dash Deliver LLC owner Kevin Bus apologized and said that the email was "inappropriate and inconsistent" with the company's values, and that the employee in question had been terminated.
"While it is true that communicating effectively in English is an important part of the job in question, the manner in which [the employee in question] communicated with you was highly inappropriate and following our investigation he is no longer employed with the company," the email states.
BEST UPDATE: HE GOT FIRED YALL!! I LOVE EVERYONE WHO SHARED THIS, LIKED THIS, READ THIS ARTICLE ETC. WE NO LONGER HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS TRASH❤️😠pic.twitter.com/tA1PzenuPx
— wowie its emily (@staleboba) January 24, 2018
Who's the one sending out resumes now, Bruce? In a follow-up tweet, Emily shared that Peterson has since sent an email to Mr. Huynh, apologizing for his actions and begging for forgiveness.
"My dad forgives him and just hopes that people learn from their ignorance," Emily says.
The best part of this unfortunate incident? All of the supportive people who chimed in on Emily's thread, not only with encouraging words, but with actual job offers for Mr. Huynh. Every now and then, people are awesome.
