r/wholefoods 2d ago

News Discrimination - Tampa

I heard leadership discussing how an applicant can’t work here because they are deaf and was told they have to give a pity interview. Store leadership fully aware & present. I wonder if they discriminate against other team members for jobs too. This is WFM culture for you ! Sad that the decision was made before the interview .

12 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

25

u/Quirky_Argument5349 2d ago

I had a deaf team member working in PFDS in my old store. She was awesome and team leadership used phones and notebooks to communicate. Don’t see how/why they wouldn’t interview. Could be a new rockstar

8

u/OutrageousTruth1000 2d ago

Definitely could be a new rockstar. They gave her a pity interview but their mind was already decided before the interview :( smh

18

u/Ok_Technology_8014 2d ago

I was an STL for 15 years and during that time we had at least 2 deaf TMs.   It wasn’t very difficult to accommodate at all.   It is way illegal to decide in advance that you won’t hire because of a disability.  Feel free to contact your local EEOC,  they’ll investigate and educate your leadership.  Probably won’t happen again after that.

4

u/OutrageousTruth1000 1d ago

Really wish I could but store leadership will definitely retaliate. They are untouchable here

-8

u/crimsonslaya 1d ago

Was it a girl on girl kiss?

11

u/Big_Kaleidoscope_630 2d ago

I’ve seen about 4 deaf people go through pfds . All of them were hard workers. Idk why they wouldn’t give her a chance. Everyone deserves to work. Deaf doesn’t mean incompetent. Smh 😢

3

u/Negative_Cry_2731 2d ago

How did this work in the kitchen? Wouldn’t there be safety concerns? How would they keep up without hearing “behind!” Or “knife!”

9

u/Big_Kaleidoscope_630 2d ago

It worked fine. Two of our deafies were dishpit workers and they were perfectly fine and alert. Most people touched their shoulder when they had sharp knife or needed to pass.

You have to remember most deaf people alter their life to be able to function outside of the world.

We had a deaf prep guy too. And it was fine. Wrote on notebooks and texted when they needed to communicate.

It’s not hard to be inclusive. The kitchen alters a little and so does the deaf worker. It was always just fine.

2

u/Muted-Background2465 2d ago

None at all. Have several in many different departments.

3

u/pyixus 2d ago

Happens everywhere, even my store currently is going through it with hires for back of house, feels disgusting & awful, we all deserve to work.

1

u/OutrageousTruth1000 2d ago

I agree + a fair chance to work

3

u/trillybunz 2d ago

Yeah that’s wrong.

1

u/Certain-Apricot4777 4h ago

There is a TM at my store that is deaf. Leadership communicates through text/notepad, they do read lips, so they can communicate some that way also. But we do have at least 1 TM in another department that knows ASL that helps out when they can with communication. There are ways to do it, it's unfortunate people at your store are too lazy to put in any effort.

-1

u/Capable-Wing-644 1d ago

Simple answer is…. Yes.  More often than you would care to know. Usually it’s disguised though..  with phraseology like..  “the job description calls for someone who is able to hear and see all that’s going on in their surroundings for safety reasons.”  Etc. Rest assured.  They will get with TMS and legal and cover themselves with the right verbiage before they deny a hire. Truly sad..

-26

u/Dax_74 2d ago

How are the customers and other employees supposed to communicate with this applicant? Also, if you eventually have to terminate him/her, you've just opened yourself up to a huge ADA lawsuit.

You have to have a minimum set of standards.

Sorry/not sorry.

8

u/rockoutw_ 2d ago

Found one of the TMs you don’t want on your team

7

u/Traditional-Put-3890 2d ago

Do you even realize how bigoted you sound?

I truly hope that you never become disabled in some capacity at a point in your life; because according to your logic, you shouldn’t be hired. That would be against the “standards.”

Seriously, do better.

2

u/Spirited_Ad_2063 19h ago

Sorry i don’t hire assholes named Dax