Muslim accuses Cathay of racism
Cathay Pacific has been accused of racism by a Muslim airport worker after he was denied a job interview at the airline's office in Heathrow Airport, London.
Salim Zakhrouf, who was born in Algeria, said he was offered an interview by the Hong Kong carrier days later after he applied again, using a white, British-sounding name, Britain's Daily Mail newspaper reported.
The airline's UK head of marketing Roberto Abbondio was quoted as saying it was an administrative error probably caused by staff being overloaded with 709 applications.
Abbondio told the Mail the case was 'unfortunate and disappointing' and said that Cathay Pacific would review its recruitment process. Alison Loftin, the airline's UK personnel manager, has also written to apologise to Zakhrouf and offered to arrange a meeting.
A spokesman at Cathay Pacific's Hong Kong headquarters said last night she would look into the case.
'We will contact our UK office to ensure we understand the issue first,' said the spokesman, adding that a job applicant's nationality should not be an issue. 'Cathay Pacific is an equal opportunities employer and has a policy of full compliance with all anti-discrimination legislation.'
Zakhrouf, 38, a British citizen, who has been living there for 20 years, said he had applied for a job at Cathay Pacific seven times in three years, but had been rejected each time.
He has 17 years' customer service experience and works as a flight handling agent at Heathrow Airport.
In the latest rejection, Cathay Pacific said in an e-mail that he had not been selected for an interview for the post of passenger services officer.
Yet two days' later he applied again, using a fake name, 'Ian Woodhouse', but with an identical resum? and home address. He was invited for an interview by the same personnel officer that had first rejected him.
Zakhrouf was so angry he refused to attend. 'The way they handled my application was racist and unfair,' he told the Mail.
His union, Unite, is reportedly planning to bring a case accusing Cathay Pacific for racial discrimination to an employment tribunal.
