Company Rescinds Diversity Job Offer To Black Executive Who Was ‘Too Sensitive About Race Issues’
A diversity professional, with more than 20 years of experience, was floored when his new employer rescinded its job offer because he was in part “too sensitive about race issues.”
Joseph B. Hill, who previously held a diversity executive position at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, was just days away from starting his new job as vice president, chief equity, diversity and inclusion officer at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston when he received a jaw-dropping email, NBC News reports.
“We regret to inform you that we are rescinding the offer of employment dated July 21, 2021. ... We appreciate your interest in the position and wish you much success going forward,” the message from human resources VP Lori Knowles stated.
Hill’s lawyer tried to get some clarity about the situation. In a phone conversation, the company’s lawyers told him red flags went up for them when Hill inquired about hiring his own staff, asked for a higher relocation budget and charged a luxury vehicle to the company.
Furthermore, the company felt that he was “too sensitive about race issues,” casting doubt about whether the hospital system was serious about diversity and inclusion.
“Many organizations are not interested in real change,” Chris Metzler, a former associate dean for human resources and diversity studies at Georgetown University, told NBC.
“They are looking at diversity as a numbers game. Many executives ask me privately, ‘How many Black people do I have to have?’ he added.
Following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, numerous corporations pledged to diversity in response to the social justice movement. However, more than a year later many of those promises are unfulfilled.
According to The Washington Post, by August 2021, the nation’s 50 biggest public companies and their foundations promised to spend a collective $49.5 billion after Floyd’s murder to address racial inequality. However, more than 90 percent of that funding was allocated as loans or investments that could profit the corporations.
And when it comes to hiring Black diversity executives, NBC said a new report found that the percentage of Black DEI directors increased slightly from 11.3 percent in 2020 and 11.5 percent for 2021.
According to Hill, the red flags that the company saw likely stemmed from his encounter with the white real estate agent the company contracted to help him find a house in the Houston area.
The agent’s “unconscious racial bias” came across as microaggressions in which he recommended a Black-owned clothing store nearby and a public golf course, suggesting that Hill couldn’t afford to join a private club. Hill sent an email to Knowles about the conversation.
The hospital system declined NBC’s offer to discuss their decision to rescind the job offer.
It did release this statement: “We continue to make great strides in enhancing equity, diversity and inclusion within our system, but we know there is always more that can be done — which is why we are recruiting for a Chief EDI Officer.”
