The Japanese Consulate in Edinburgh has reportedly been slapped with a huge fine after an employment tribunal ruled they discriminated against a female candidate during a job interview.
Image: File photo.
Chihiro Macdonald, who was born in Japan and now lives in Edinburgh with her husband and children. The report said she was treated unfairly when recruiters at the Consulate asked her about childcare and personal issues – The National reports.
Despite the fact that the other candidates who interviewed for the job were all women, the court ruled that Macdonald had been a victim of sexual discrimination, and fined £2,000.
During the interview for the position of Temporary Cultural/General Information Assistant, Macdonald was asked by Rumiko Ishigami, the Deputy Consul General “what she would do if one of her young sons was sick and she was expected to work at night”, the publication reports.
The candidate was asked about her childcare plans for over the half the interview, and probed about her “adaptability and flexibility”.
Macdonald claims she left the interview feeling depressed and like a failure.
In their judgement, the tribunal ruled in the candidates favor, saying that the interviewer has treated her “less favorably on grounds of her sex by asking her a number of questions about her ability to cope with the job as a mother of young children in circumstances where we conclude that the interviewers would not have asked such questions of a hypothetical male candidate.”
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