A Sydney advertising agency has been forced to apologise after a job applicant who is a Sri Lankan Australian, claimed she was told that she was ‘too brown’ to be hired, Daily Mail Australia reported on Friday.
Surungi Emily Hohol said she was ‘livid’ at the ‘injustice of racism’ following a job interview with creative advertising company Banjo.
‘I had an interview at a creative ad agency in Sydney and was told that due to being brown and Indian (though I’m Sri Lankan) and have lived in Australia for 27 years, I wouldn’t be suitable for the role as they already had two other Indian people,’ she posted on Facebook.
Ms. Hohol said she was told the agency’s clients ‘might be alarmed by having three brown skinned people attend a meeting’. However, Banjo had released a statement apologising and said the comments were ‘taken out of context’.
‘In the course of expanding the account management team at Banjo, an unfortunate misunderstanding has occurred during an interview with a candidate, for which Banjo would like to offer an unreserved apology,’ Banjo CEO Andrew Varasdi said in the statement.
The senior staff member who conducted what was a very positive interview, made a casual remark at the end of the interview, which was intended to set the person at ease. ‘Unfortunately it was taken out of context and has since gained some notoriety on social media. Needless to say, the Banjo staff member is deeply upset by the incident.
