58 / 121
56
Discrimination and the Roma community, 2015
4.
Zaragoza.
Employment.
Direct discrimination.
A young Roma girl was sacked from her job after eight years
for no apparent reason. A while back when the girl mentioned to the business owner that she was Roma, she
noticed that her boss’ attitude changed until she eventually sacked her with no explanation.
As the young worker thought this was unfair, she filed a complaint for wrongful dismissal. She believed that she
lost her job because she is Roma which would make her dismissal an act of discrimination. We do not yet know
the outcome of the complaint.
5.
Aragon.
Employment.
Direct discrimination.
There was a pre-selection process for an opening at a restaurant
and the FSG worker responsible for selecting candidates from among the job-seeker pool sent four Roma to
apply. When the restaurant owner realised that the candidates were Roma she contacted the FSG worker and
told her: “I don’t want any Gypsies working at my restaurant. All of their relatives will be hanging around here and
scare off my customers.” The FSG worker tried to reason with her but was unsuccessful.
6.
Huesca.
Employment.
Direct discrimination.
A worker in the employment department of the FSG’s Huesca
office reported that: “On 25 May 2014 I sent two candidates to a job opening as a “chef’s aid”. The employment
service validated the candidates and set up an interview. We would note that the two Roma women proposed
had the training and background called for in the job announcement.
That same day the two women went to the establishment at the scheduled time to drop off their CVs and be
interviewed.
The next day the FSG worker followed up and asked them about their interview. They told her that they were
very disappointed and frustrated because they were told that the job had already been filled. They said that
they felt ignored and weren’t even able to turn in their CVs and felt that it was because they are Roma. They
also felt treated with contempt. They said it was because of their ethnic origin.
7.
Huesca.
Employment.
Direct discrimination.
An FSG employment worker contacted one of the owners of a
family fish canning business.
Everything seemed to go well and the FSG promised to send them the candidates’ CVs. The worker explained
what the FSG does and one of the owners mentioned that she had a few Sub-Saharan African men working for
her and they were very happy.
The next day she called to confirm the address to send along the CVs she had promised but this time she spoke
to a different owner who said: “no, we don’t want Gypsies. Not long ago I had a bad experience with two Roma
men I had working here”.
The FSG worker explained that generalisations were unfair and that one negative experience doesn’t mean that
things won’t work out with these candidates.
The owner remained belligerent with his anti-Roma attitude.
8.
Zaragoza.
Employment.
Direct discrimination.
The victim informed us that she submitted her CV at a restau-
rant and was called two days later for an interview. She noticed that the interviewer looked at her strangely and
the interview concluded very fast (in comparison with the interviews of other candidates) and of course they
didn’t give her the job. She felt she was the victim of discrimination for being Roma.
While the FSG’s equality and anti-discrimination department cannot prove that this is a case of discrimination, it
is a frequent perception that Roma have at job interviews where they often feel scorned and not taken seriously
by the interviewer.