Job issues...HELP!

[huskerlaw]

My office is in the process of hiring new people and they're doing so at a nationwide conference that's being held this week. I'm back in the office, so I'm not participating in the interviews at this point, but I just found out that they're interviewing a guy that I used to work with.

Here's the thing. His father was one of my professors in law school and he's a homophobic, lecherous, fundie asshole. I have reason to believe (though I'm not certain) that his son shares his political views. The father teaches Constitutional Law (among other things) and has numerous pieces of scholarship that have been embraced by right-wing nuts and decried as idiotic bullshit by top constitutional scholars. In fact, the father wrote Nebraska's Defense of Marriage act, which was so completely homophobic that the United States Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. Not only that, they ripped it a new asshole...because it was SO BAD.

Here's the problem. I know that if my bosses are even the slightest bit interested in hiring the son, they're going to ask me for my opinion because we interned at the same university.

What do I do? How do I warn them that this guy's politics are most likely the polar opposite of nearly everyone in our office? As I said, I don't know for certain that the son holds the same beliefs as his father, but I strongly suspect that they do...he was homeschooled, attended a crazy fundie church, is very close to his father, etc.

If we hired him, I would have to work directly with him, and obviously I'd rather shoot myself. I also don't think he'd fit well with the office in general.

My professional contact with the son was brief and uneventful, so when they come and ask me if I know him and what I think about him what do I say?

[livetohike]

1. You say exactly this:

"My professional contact with the son was brief and uneventful".

The less said the better, imo. Good luck :-).

[huskerlaw]

3. I know that's the safe thing to say

but I'd be working with him if they hired him and I don't think that would go well. Also, most people in our office are liberal (yes, we talk politics at work), so I'm concerned about him fitting in at all.

If we do hire him and things go as I expect they will, I'm also thinking that people will be upset that I didn't warn them.

Sigh.

[livetohike]

6. Maybe he will discover in the interview process that he doesn't

belong in your office.

I still wouldn't volunteer info. If asked about the Father, you can freely say what you know about his politics but add that you truly don't know what the son thinks.

[huskerlaw]

16. I hope he does

decide he doesn't want to come here. That would obviously be the easiest way out for me. However, I work at a Catholic school, so he may figure that we're conservative. Even though it's Los Angeles. Who knows.

[txwhitedove]

2. Oooh, tricky. You need HR/Legal help here. Just like age, race,...

etc., can't be considered in employment, neither can political views. You know his father's political perversity, but you admit not knowing the son's. Is there anyway to find out? Otherwise, without directly getting into political specifics, you can start with your own words "I don't think he'd fit well with the office in general."

[huskerlaw]

4. I'm a lawyer, so I know

it's dangerous territory.

Thing is, I work at a private university...so they can get by with asking more pointed questions, to some extent. And we do talk politics around the water cooler (so to speak) so for me to mention it in passing wouldn't be completely out of the question.

My problem is what to say when they formally ask me about my contact with him. I do intend to start with "I don't think he'd fit well..." but then I'm at a loss as to what to say next.

[txwhitedove]

9. Then they'll ask why, and you can gently lay out your concerns.

Again, find some way to back up those concerns by finding out more about the son's politics.

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. A lawyer at a loss of words for response?

:wow:

You could start with, "Thanks for asking me. I appreciate that. I do have some concerns, and these may be relevant to or have an impact upon how well he would "fit" within our (workplace, setting, office...whatever word or words work best for you here...)...then just be honest. Since you are not totally sure about the guy's political stance, and/or there are other things that you are concerned about regarding him, you decide if these are important/relevant things to share. However, I would leave out anything to do with his father. Dad's not looking to get hired.

:D

Good Luck! And please report back! I want to hear how this all goes! :hi:

[huskerlaw]

18. Thanks

I will let you know.

I know that we're not hiring his dad, but I spent 3 years of law school actively avoiding the guy and I really don't want to deal with it. You're right though, I don't know for certain that the son shares his dad's political views...although all circumstantial evidence leads me to believe that he does.

[Ravenseye]

5. Personal Opinion is valid though

I could be wrong, but while race and sex and such aren't valid points, your opinion of him and his father I see as valid.

I'd say something like this...

"Yes, I know him. My professional contact with him was brief and limited, but what there was made me not wish to work with him in the future. I don't think he'd fit in well with the office in general and his personality could potentially cause conflicts. If he were hired, I would not look forward to working with him, and potentially would seek employment elsewhere. That's my personal opinion, do with it as you wish."

Or something like that. I see no reason why you should have to put up with him. You were there first. ;)

[huskerlaw]

8. Thanks

Actually, that sounds like a really good way to handle it. I also think that I'll print off some of his father's controversial law review articles so that when they ask why I don't want to work with him, I can just hand them the articles and let them decide for themselves.

[nosillies]

7. What about this?

"My previous professional contact with so-and-so was brief. However, from this previous experience, I would worry that his personality might not mesh with the other personalities in the office, which might lead to morale issues and reduced teamwork." If pressed, just say "take from that what you will," and refuse to give details. You will have been honest, but will not have said anything illegal or slanderous.

[huskerlaw]

14. Yeah, that sounds like

a really good way to handle it. Or at least a good way to start. Thanks!

[JVS]

11. I don't think that it is ethical for you to put the kibosh on this guy...

because you don't like his dad or his religion.

[huskerlaw]

13. It's not his religion

it's his politics.

I don't care what church they go to. I care a great deal that the father is a homophobic asshole...and I have reason to believe that his son is as well.

[JVS]

17. If you don't care about what church they go to, why did you mention...

fundies a couple times including the phrase "crazy fundie church"?

[huskerlaw]

19. Because their church

was more about politics than it was about religion.

They're Christians. I don't care about that. But their church actively espouses homophobic teachings. That's when I start to care a great deal.

[JVS]

20. So which churches is it ok to be a member of according to you?

[huskerlaw]

21. Oh come on

I don't care what religion the guy is. But his "church" is political. They spend more time on political issues than they do preaching the Bible or any other sort of religious text.

How he feels about God doesn't matter to me. How he feels about the Bible doesn't matter to me.

The fact that his "religion" teaches that gay people are inferior, that they can be taught to be straight, that they're the same as pedophiles, that they have a mental disorder, and that they don't deserve the same rights as straight people matters a great deal.

[JVS]

22. No, seriously. Which churches are political and which are religious?

Also, since you barely know the guy, how certain are you that he puts forth the ideas you disagree with? I know a guy who swears up and down that the Unitarians aren't a church, but a political activism organization. Whose judgement can be trusted to classify these? How do you make a decision that one church is a real church and another is a politicing body?
How do you decide that his is a "crazy fundie church" and that his association with it (the extent of which we are sketchy on anyway, perhaps he goes once in a while to keep his dad happy) is grounds to not give him a job?

[huskerlaw]

23. My comments about his church

were based on my extended contact with his father...who attends the same church. Since he spent 2 full semesters worth of class time on his soap box preaching "religion" and politics, I think I have a very good handle on what his church teaches.

I'm also not trying to take away the church's tax exempt status. I don't care if they call themselves a church. I'm not trying to classify anything. You accused me of disliking this guy's religious beliefs. That's not true. I dislike the political beliefs that I know his church teaches. Do you get that? The political views of the church. Not the religious ones. When they're actively supporting a political candidate, a legislative action, or a Supreme Court decision, that aspect of their church life is political. That's what I have a problem with. Not who he prays to. Not what version of the bible he reads.

I also never said that I would ask them not to hire him. I'm asking for advice as to how I should pass along the knowledge I have, which yes, includes that I'm not 100% certain that the son shares the political beliefs of his father.

[geniph]

12. "He seemed reasonably competent,

but some people seemed to be bothered by his attendance issues."

:evilgrin:

[Whoa_Nelly]

15. Wak!

:rofl: Good one! :rofl:

[GOPisEvil]

24. If asked for your opinion, you could recuse yourself.

Use the grounds that you cannot objectively provide input because of how you view his father. You might point those views out, and ask if those doing the hiring would be comfortable with someone in the office who potentially shares the views that his father espouses. I think your role is to educate, but leave your personal views out as much as possible. So trash him without APPEARING as though you're trashing him. :evilgrin:

[huskerlaw]

25. Hahahah

"I recuse myself because my mama taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. By the way, his father was my Constitutional Law teacher and he spent 3 weeks of a 6 week course discussing the different ways to perform a partial birth abortion and another 2 weeks on why gay people don't have any constitutional rights. We didn't even learn about separation of powers. I didn't learn about Brown v. Board until Advanced Con Law...with another professor. But I'm not sayin' anything. I'm just sayin'. You know what I'm sayin'?"

[GOPisEvil]

26. Exactly!!

:thumbsup: