Discrimination to start at a warehouse as a seasonable employee because i am Asian

[VShin]

Hello, i applied for a job at Amazon as a seasonal employee on May 8th of 2020. I was able to schedule my first day of work for May 13th. My shift was cancelled because Amazon had enough employees for that day. I had to reschedule for may 17th. When i arrived for my first day they advised me that i was terminated in the system and i should expect to get a call back. I have not received a call back and i wrote an email to Amazon Recruitment on the whole situation with Onboarding. Please see email below
Good morning,I had an appointment scheduled today May 17th at 8:15 am for the first day new hire orientation. I arrived on time, got my employee ID along with 2 other paperwork that had my A to Z instructions on how to download the application and my user id and temporary password. As i went to the lobby together with the rest of the group and the person from Learning department my ID did not scan. I had to wait at the security desk where they advised me that they had me terminated in the system. The person from the learning department advised me that it must be some kind of mistake within the system. He asked me if i worked for amazon in the past i advised him that i did not. I did ask him uf there is by any chance it will be possible to fix it so that i can start the same day. He stated that since i am terminated in the system it is not possible i have to wait for the call from HR. On my question about the system he did told me that it usually happens when people has the same username when their name is so common as of to my name is very common. So without reasonable explanation i went back to the car to try to contact HR. The first number that came up to my mind was 1 ( number removed)I dialed that phone number and apparantely the person that i reached out to was extremely busy assisting me. I heard a lot of background constant noise and the line was breaking up and the person was just keep on asking repeatedly the same questions. So as she tried to assist me. She placed me on the hold for 20 minutes and then just hanged up. I was super lost on what do i do. I then tried to contact ERC which promped me to enter my DOB which i did and the message was thay we are experiencing technical problems and then the phone would just hang up. I tried calling again without entering my DOB and reached out to live person. I gave her my information and as she was looking into my information she placed me on hold and after another 10 minutes i got disconnected again.I looked up at a time and it was 9:10 i started to head back home because honestly i just gave up on all of this. I received a call back from ( phone number removed) and the person i spoke with did said that we were disconnected and she will try to assist me. She looked up my profile and said that i was terminated in the system because i has 2 appointments scheduled one for May 13th and one for May 17th at 7:15 am which i missed. She did advised me to be more diligent and make sure that i follow up and dont cancel the appointment. I did adviced her that those appointments were cancelled and i never cancelled them. After scheduling my first day the next morning i received a cancellation notice because either the positions were filled or just because Amazon cancelled them. I explained to her that i applied initially around May 8th to start on May 13th. The appointment day was cancelled so i had to reschedule for May 17th at 7:15AM which was cancelled again the next day. I called in to ask to schedule my first day because nothing was available in the system. I was able to schedule for May 17th at 6:15 am on May 13th. The representative advised me that she needs to transfer me to ERC to fix that. I did advised her that i initially contacted ERC which brought me to her and ERC is automated system. She insisted that only ERC will be able to help me. As i was transfered to automated system nothing was resolved. I just dont understand how automated system eill be able to help me.The reason why i am writting to you I just want yo resolve this. Would you be able to assist me to schedule my first day?Please note that i received an email from KNet that asked me to create A to Z account which said that my username is not valid. I went through second link for training modules where i entered my temporary password in the system which then prompted me to change my password and as i loge in i saw 3 training at the time assigned to me. As i tried to login throughout the day it would tell me that my user credentials are incoreectm i pressed on the option forgot my password and no temporary password was sent. I tried to comtact KNet they looked up my profioe and they advised that there are no trainings assigned to me. We were not able to resolve the issue with me to login. They advised just go to onborading and it will all be taken care of by your supervisor. And as i came i was terminated within the system. Honestly, Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world and i am just very surprised and confused about the whole hiring process. I would highly appreciate if someone can assist or at least i believe ther would should be some kind of a reasonable explanation. Thank you.
As far as my concern I am leaning toward the fact that i am asian and with given circumstances they did not allow me to start on the day 1 for that simple reason. Please let me know if you can assist. Thank you.

 

[Taxing Matters]

As far as my concern I am leaning toward the fact that i am asian and with given circumstances they did not allow me to start on the day 1 for that simple reason. Please let me know if you can assist. Thank you.

You are dealing with a huge corporation that has a lot of bureaucracy and is one that relies heavily on automation. Add to that the disruptions caused by the current restrictions in many places due the pandemic and its not surprising that things might get screwed up. Unfortunately the people working at the lower levels of the company may not have the authority or perhaps even the ability to override those systems when that happens. From the sound of it this all happened today, which is a Sunday. Most of HR is likely not working today. They told you that HR would reach out to you to follow up and that nothing could be done today. So give the company a few days to see if it contacts you and if not try to reach a real person in HR during the work week, not on the weekend. If you can't get it resolved with the front line employees, try to reach an HR manager. The point is that you'll want to give it more than a day to try to work out what went wrong today. You might still be able to get this resolved and start work.

In any event, nothing in your post suggests that your race was the reason for these problems. There are all sorts of possible reasons for it. Jumping to the conclusion it must have been race when there seems to be no indication of that won't get you very far. After all, if the company didn't want to employ you because you are Asian then it likely wouldn't have extended the offer in the first place. That would have been the easier thing for the company to do.

 

[Just Blue]

Hello, i applied for a job at Amazon as a seasonal employee on May 8th of 2020. I was able to schedule my first day of work for May 13th. My shift was cancelled because Amazon had enough employees for that day. I had to reschedule for may 17th. When i arrived for my first day they advised me that i was terminated in the system and i should expect to get a call back. I have not received a call back and i wrote an email to Amazon Recruitment on the whole situation with Onboarding. Please see email below
Good morning,I had an appointment scheduled today May 17th at 8:15 am for the first day new hire orientation. I arrived on time, got my employee ID along with 2 other paperwork that had my A to Z instructions on how to download the application and my user id and temporary password. As i went to the lobby together with the rest of the group and the person from Learning department my ID did not scan. I had to wait at the security desk where they advised me that they had me terminated in the system. The person from the learning department advised me that it must be some kind of mistake within the system. He asked me if i worked for amazon in the past i advised him that i did not. I did ask him uf there is by any chance it will be possible to fix it so that i can start the same day. He stated that since i am terminated in the system it is not possible i have to wait for the call from HR. On my question about the system he did told me that it usually happens when people has the same username when their name is so common as of to my name is very common. So without reasonable explanation i went back to the car to try to contact HR. The first number that came up to my mind was 1 (number removed) I dialed that phone number and apparantely the person that i reached out to was extremely busy assisting me. I heard a lot of background constant noise and the line was breaking up and the person was just keep on asking repeatedly the same questions. So as she tried to assist me. She placed me on the hold for 20 minutes and then just hanged up. I was super lost on what do i do. I then tried to contact ERC which promped me to enter my DOB which i did and the message was thay we are experiencing technical problems and then the phone would just hang up. I tried calling again without entering my DOB and reached out to live person. I gave her my information and as she was looking into my information she placed me on hold and after another 10 minutes i got disconnected again.I looked up at a time and it was 9:10 i started to head back home because honestly i just gave up on all of this. I received a call back from (number removed) and the person i spoke with did said that we were disconnected and she will try to assist me. She looked up my profile and said that i was terminated in the system because i has 2 appointments scheduled one for May 13th and one for May 17th at 7:15 am which i missed. She did advised me to be more diligent and make sure that i follow up and dont cancel the appointment. I did adviced her that those appointments were cancelled and i never cancelled them. After scheduling my first day the next morning i received a cancellation notice because either the positions were filled or just because Amazon cancelled them. I explained to her that i applied initially around May 8th to start on May 13th. The appointment day was cancelled so i had to reschedule for May 17th at 7:15AM which was cancelled again the next day. I called in to ask to schedule my first day because nothing was available in the system. I was able to schedule for May 17th at 6:15 am on May 13th. The representative advised me that she needs to transfer me to ERC to fix that. I did advised her that i initially contacted ERC which brought me to her and ERC is automated system. She insisted that only ERC will be able to help me. As i was transfered to automated system nothing was resolved. I just dont understand how automated system eill be able to help me.The reason why i am writting to you I just want yo resolve this. Would you be able to assist me to schedule my first day?Please note that i received an email from KNet that asked me to create A to Z account which said that my username is not valid. I went through second link for training modules where i entered my temporary password in the system which then prompted me to change my password and as i loge in i saw 3 training at the time assigned to me. As i tried to login throughout the day it would tell me that my user credentials are incoreectm i pressed on the option forgot my password and no temporary password was sent. I tried to comtact KNet they looked up my profioe and they advised that there are no trainings assigned to me. We were not able to resolve the issue with me to login. They advised just go to onborading and it will all be taken care of by your supervisor. And as i came i was terminated within the system. Honestly, Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world and i am just very surprised and confused about the whole hiring process. I would highly appreciate if someone can assist or at least i believe ther would should be some kind of a reasonable explanation. Thank you.
As far as my concern I am leaning toward the fact that i am asian and with given circumstances they did not allow me to start on the day 1 for that simple reason. Please let me know if you can assist. Thank you.

What state?

 

[Zigner]

Hello, i applied for a job at Amazon as a seasonal employee on May 8th of 2020. I was able to schedule my first day of work for May 13th. My shift was cancelled because Amazon had enough employees for that day. I had to reschedule for may 17th. When i arrived for my first day they advised me that i was terminated in the system and i should expect to get a call back. I have not received a call back and i wrote an email to Amazon Recruitment on the whole situation with Onboarding. Please see email below
Good morning,I had an appointment scheduled today May 17th at 8:15 am for the first day new hire orientation. I arrived on time, got my employee ID along with 2 other paperwork that had my A to Z instructions on how to download the application and my user id and temporary password. As i went to the lobby together with the rest of the group and the person from Learning department my ID did not scan. I had to wait at the security desk where they advised me that they had me terminated in the system. The person from the learning department advised me that it must be some kind of mistake within the system. He asked me if i worked for amazon in the past i advised him that i did not. I did ask him uf there is by any chance it will be possible to fix it so that i can start the same day. He stated that since i am terminated in the system it is not possible i have to wait for the call from HR. On my question about the system he did told me that it usually happens when people has the same username when their name is so common as of to my name is very common. So without reasonable explanation i went back to the car to try to contact HR. The first number that came up to my mind was 1 ( number removed)I dialed that phone number and apparantely the person that i reached out to was extremely busy assisting me. I heard a lot of background constant noise and the line was breaking up and the person was just keep on asking repeatedly the same questions. So as she tried to assist me. She placed me on the hold for 20 minutes and then just hanged up. I was super lost on what do i do. I then tried to contact ERC which promped me to enter my DOB which i did and the message was thay we are experiencing technical problems and then the phone would just hang up. I tried calling again without entering my DOB and reached out to live person. I gave her my information and as she was looking into my information she placed me on hold and after another 10 minutes i got disconnected again.I looked up at a time and it was 9:10 i started to head back home because honestly i just gave up on all of this. I received a call back from 206 xxx-xxxx and the person i spoke with did said that we were disconnected and she will try to assist me. She looked up my profile and said that i was terminated in the system because i has 2 appointments scheduled one for May 13th and one for May 17th at 7:15 am which i missed. She did advised me to be more diligent and make sure that i follow up and dont cancel the appointment. I did adviced her that those appointments were cancelled and i never cancelled them. After scheduling my first day the next morning i received a cancellation notice because either the positions were filled or just because Amazon cancelled them. I explained to her that i applied initially around May 8th to start on May 13th. The appointment day was cancelled so i had to reschedule for May 17th at 7:15AM which was cancelled again the next day. I called in to ask to schedule my first day because nothing was available in the system. I was able to schedule for May 17th at 6:15 am on May 13th. The representative advised me that she needs to transfer me to ERC to fix that. I did advised her that i initially contacted ERC which brought me to her and ERC is automated system. She insisted that only ERC will be able to help me. As i was transfered to automated system nothing was resolved. I just dont understand how automated system eill be able to help me.The reason why i am writting to you I just want yo resolve this. Would you be able to assist me to schedule my first day?Please note that i received an email from KNet that asked me to create A to Z account which said that my username is not valid. I went through second link for training modules where i entered my temporary password in the system which then prompted me to change my password and as i loge in i saw 3 training at the time assigned to me. As i tried to login throughout the day it would tell me that my user credentials are incoreectm i pressed on the option forgot my password and no temporary password was sent. I tried to comtact KNet they looked up my profioe and they advised that there are no trainings assigned to me. We were not able to resolve the issue with me to login. They advised just go to onborading and it will all be taken care of by your supervisor. And as i came i was terminated within the system. Honestly, Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world and i am just very surprised and confused about the whole hiring process. I would highly appreciate if someone can assist or at least i believe ther would should be some kind of a reasonable explanation. Thank you.
As far as my concern I am leaning toward the fact that i am asian and with given circumstances they did not allow me to start on the day 1 for that simple reason. Please let me know if you can assist. Thank you.

NOTHING in here suggests any sort of racial discrimination (or any discrimination at all, for that matter). This was just a snafu, plain and simple. It's easily chalked up to stuff happens.

(I reported your post due to the phone number you left in. It will be returned once it has been edited by admin.)

 

[VShin]

Thank you. I just wanted that as i arrived at my work location there were 4 employees who same as me had their work id not working and then out of all employees from my shift i was only one who was sent home due to the system error

 

[adjusterjack]

13% of Amazon's employees are Asian.

You aren't going anywhere alleging racial discrimination.

 

[stealth2]

I'd be very surprised if HR issues would be resolved on a Sunday.

 

[Taxing Matters]

13% of Amazon's employees are Asian.

You aren't going anywhere alleging racial discrimination.

The fact that a large corporation employs minorities does not logically mean that the employer never discriminates against minorities. It may have some managers, for example, who do discriminate even though the official company policy is to treat all races equally. The employer would surely point to its employment of other Asians as evidence it does not discriminate against them, but that alone wouldn't necessarily carry the day for the employer.

 

[commentator]

Given the deluge of unnecessary information you gave them, added to the fact that you were a very conditional new hire, and that you most immediately rung up the discrimination card when not put immediately to work, you have pretty much guaranteed that you are not going to be selected ever to work at Amazon.

I have known of cases in which a heavy warehouse site, which is a terribly physical job, has taken temp workers going in from a service and selected the fitter looking folks standing there on site, sent away the obese or slight or unhealthy looking. Discrimination? Yes. Illegal discrimination, nope.

 

[quincy]

... I have known of cases in which a heavy warehouse site, which is a terribly physical job, has taken temp workers going in from a service and selected the fitter looking folks standing there on site, sent away the obese or slight or unhealthy looking. Discrimination? Yes. Illegal discrimination, nope.

Appearance, including weight, is a protected characteristic in some states.

 

[cbg]

Appearance, including weight, is a protected characteristic in some states.

At the state level, Michigan only. The District of Columbia protects "personal appearance" which can include but is not limited to weight. I believe there is the occasional municipality scattered here and there with weight protections. Morbid obesity can, but is not necessarily in all situations, be protected under the ADA.

 

[quincy]

At the state level, Michigan only. The District of Columbia protects "personal appearance" which can include but is not limited to weight. I believe there is the occasional municipality scattered here and there with weight protections. Morbid obesity can, but is not necessarily in all situations, be protected under the ADA.

VShin never provided a state name and location can make a difference when it comes to discrimination laws. My post was primarily to point out that illegal discrimination can in fact include discrimination based on weight and appearance, depending on location. Commentator’s post seemed to imply otherwise - not that VChin’s concern appears to have anything to do with weight.

 

[Sockeye]

The fact that a large corporation employs minorities does not logically mean that the employer never discriminates against minorities. It may have some managers, for example, who do discriminate even though the official company policy is to treat all races equally. The employer would surely point to its employment of other Asians as evidence it does not discriminate against them, but that alone wouldn't necessarily carry the day for the employer.

I was a warehouse manager 22 years ago responsible for order puller, packers, and shipping. Amazon was just down the street and still primarily limited to books. Even back them everything was electronically measured in time and piece count numbers crunched. Any manager that allowed racial or other bias to staff his crew wouldn't be manager long.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I was a warehouse manager 22 years ago responsible for order puller, packers, and shipping. Amazon was just down the street and still primarily limited to books. Even back them everything was electronically measured in time and piece count numbers crunched. Any manager that allowed racial or other bias to staff his crew wouldn't be manager long.

Any company, including Amazon, can face problems with illegal discrimination. If you think that a manager couldn't staff his/her crew to meet the numbers and engage in illegal discrimination then I submit you underestimate the ability and creativity of some managers. Amazon has faced a number of lawsuits just in the last year alleging various claims of illegal discrimination. Indeed one ex-manager of Amazon has sued the company for wrongful termination alleging she was fired because she complained to the company after her manager instructed her to look at social media profiles of job applicants to determine race and gender of the applicants. How the various pending claims against the company will turn out is, of course, impossible to predict right now. But it is certainly possible that one or more plaintiffs may succeed in winning a jury trial or a significant settlement.

The OP has not indicated any facts suggesting that illegal discrimination was at work in his/her situation and so far I have no reason to believe that it is a factor. But to suggest that because Amazon has hired other Asians or that because the company uses tight performance standards that it is somehow impossible for the company to illegally discriminate is not logically sound. While most managers in the company probably don't illegally discriminate, it would not surprise me in a company that large that one or more managers have done so.

 

[cbg]

VShin never provided a state name and location can make a difference when it comes to discrimination laws. My post was primarily to point out that illegal discrimination can in fact include discrimination based on weight and appearance, depending on location. Commentator’s post seemed to imply otherwise - not that VChin’s concern appears to have anything to do with weight.

And mine was simply to point out the jurisdictions where weight and appearance was protected. It was not intended as a rebuttal of your post but a supplement.