GoDaddy says it didn’t send email calling job applicant an obese Christian.
GoDaddy has formally denied allegations that it sent an email to a job applicant explaining that it wouldn’t hire him because he was an obese Christian. The denial included detailed steps the company took to determine the email wasn’t authentic.
Keith Connolly applied for a job with GoDaddy. He later received a rejection email. In addition to the form rejection email he received, he said the bottom included a forwarded email that read:
about keith he’s great for the job in skills but he looks worse for wear do we really want an obeese christian? is that what our new image requries of us. (sic)
I’ve been skeptical of Connolly’s story from the get go for multiple reasons:
1. Connolly waited until after the statute of limitations for job discrimination ended before going to the media with his story.
2. In media appearances, Connolly said he was very embarrassed by the email. In an Indiegogo video, he said he was “humiliated and embarrassed”. If you were embarrassed about being called fat, why on earth would you make a national story out of it?
3. Connolly mentioned to publications that he was trying to create a GoDaddy competitor. It seemed like perhaps he was using this story as a way to attract attention, including for his Indiegogo campaign.
4. The email allegedly written by someone at GoDaddy has two spelling errors. Connolly’s Indiegogo video has a text overlay that misspells “because”:
5. Christians seem like the last group GoDaddy would discriminate against. Founder Bob Parsons is conservative. Former general counsel Christine Jones often wore a cross necklace. Once, after finding out that a couple GoDaddy Premier Services reps had backgrounds as pastors or went to seminary, I joked with them that it seemed like it was a requirement to work at GoDaddy.
Of course, there can always be one bad apple or idiot at an organization that would send an email like this. GoDaddy has investigated it and says the alleged email was never sent. Given the circumstances, I’m inclined to believe it.
Geepers says
Bob Parsons once wrote a blog post justifying the murder and torture of Iraqis by US forces. It barely got any attention. But his blog post about an elephant hunting trip in Zimbabwe created quite a stir. The logical conclusion then is that the lives of animals have more value than the lives of Muslims.
batfan says
Former GD employee here;
I haven’t been buying his story either. Specifically, for these 3 reasons:
– GoDaddy is a software/internet company and is FULL of “nerdy” / non-traditional types. An overweight guy with glasses is hardly something they’d blink an eye at. And despite their personal opinions, I find it extremely hard to believe any recruiter and/or HR rep would actually put this in an email.
– The mention of him being Christian is odd. How did this come up in the interview? And, as you mentioned, Bob Parsons is a conservative himself, as is most of Arizona.
– The fact that GoDaddy wasted no time responding to his allegations with a solid NO. Again, being a software company, any email correspondence is easily retrievable. If this was true, fearing any larger damages, they would have no issues reprimanding or terminating the offending employee.