Black man only got job interview after using White-sounding name, lawsuit says

He then applied for two similar positions, as a reservation agent and front desk manager, “under a more readily apparent Caucasian name,” John Jebrowski, and used the same résumé and cover letter as before, the lawsuit said. Shinola contacted him for interviews the same week.

Shortly after interviewing, “he was informed that he was no longer a viable candidate for the position,” according to the lawsuit, which accused the hotel of discriminating against Jackson based on his race, and then of retaliating against him for opposing and complaining about “the unlawful hiring practices.”

“It made me feel worthless,” Jackson told The Washington Post. “Welcome to America. We’re still dealing with systematic oppression.”

Jackson and his attorney Jon Marko said the Detroit resident went to both interviews and introduced himself using his real name, despite the interviews being scheduled under the made-up Jebrowski. The interviewers, Jackson and Marko said, did not ask Jackson if he was connected to Jebrowski. In the second one, the interviewer held the résumé with Jebrowski’s name during the interview, Jackson alleged.

Days after the interviews, Jackson received automated emails notifying him that he would not be moving forward with either job.

“Shinola Hotel showed interest in hiring ‘John Jebrowski’ when he presented to be a Caucasian male,” the lawsuit said, adding that when the business “found out Dwight Jackson, an African American male, opposed Shinola Hotels discriminatory hiring practices, he was denied employment.”

The president of Sage Hospitality Group, which lists the Shinola Hotel as part of its portfolio, said in a statement the preliminary findings of an internal investigation “revealed significant inconsistencies with the plaintiff’s allegations.”

“We take this allegation very seriously and do not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” said president of Sage Hospitality Group Daniel del Olmo. “We’re committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where everyone has the opportunity to succeed … It is unfortunate that the plaintiff’s counsel has chosen to take these unsubstantiated claims to the media before proper due diligence has been completed.”

The résumés, which were provided to The Washington Post by Marko, were identical except for the applicant names and the starting date of Jackson’s current role. Jackson’s résumé showed that he had worked as a front desk agent at a Westin hotel and Hotel David Whitney in Detroit for years.

The lawsuit accused the hotel of violating the state’s civil rights legislation and said Jackson has suffered “emotional distress.”

“This is the easiest case in the world to prove,” Marko said, noting that there is often little evidence to clearly show discrimination in hiring. “He submitted the exact same materials with just one difference. When they saw he was Black, they didn’t give him the job. What possible explanation could they have for this conduct?”

Jackson said he initially changed the name on his résumé and cover letter to see if it would make a difference. He was frustrated and couldn’t understand why he’d never gotten a call back. When he got the interview, he was stunned.

Marko said he’s hoping the case will shed light on an issue many job candidates experience in Detroit and across the country. Studies from around the world have found bias against candidates with minority names in otherwise identical job applications.

In one, titled, “A Discrimination Report Card,” researchers sent more than 83,000 fictitious job applications to openings at more than 100 Fortune 500 firms. The paper, which was published by the University of Chicago and republished in the National Bureau of Economic Research, was circulated “for discussion and comment” but has not yet been peer-reviewed. It found that “distinctively Black” names reduced the chance of a call back by 2.1 percentage points compared to White-sounding names. The worst offenders were found to favor White applicants over Black applicants by 24 percentage points.

In a 2023 study from Australia, researchers submitted more than 12,000 job applications under Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Arabic, Chinese, English, Greek or Indian names to more than 4,000 job advertisements to investigate hiring discrimination.

They found that 26.8 percent of applications from candidates with English names received positive responses for leadership positions, compared to 11.3 percent for individuals with non-English names — despite using identical résumés. The results for non-leadership positions were also pronounced, with ethnic minorities receiving 45.3 percent fewer responses than individuals with English names.

Marko hopes the case will potentially spur potential legislative action.

In nearby Ann Arbor, for example, the city council approved a resolution in March to remove names and addresses from city job applications to reduce bias in the initial stages of hiring.

“This has had a devastating impact on Dwight as an individual,” Marko said. “But it’s also bigger than him. It’s about making sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else, wherever it is.”