On April 1, 2019 I was offered a job with the Conklin Center subject to a formal background check and checking with some of my former work supervisors. This offer of employment was made during a second interview for the position of Supported Employment Specialist. I’d been pursuing this position with the Conklin Center for several months.
When this offer of employment was made I was very pleased. I was convinced that the Conklin Center was an honorable organization that did very worthwhile work. I considered this a good faith offer of employment.
When I heard back four days later that the job offer was rescinded, I was devastated. I was also in shock. I asked if I had received a negative report from a former supervisor. To her credit, the woman who called me with the bad news assured me that I had NOT received any negative reports.
I don’t believe that a formal background check had been conducted because my interviewer indicated that would require my fingerprints being taken which never happened. Besides, there is NO REASON why I would not pass a background check.
I couldn’t understand why the employment offer had been rescinded if I had not received any negative reports so I asked why. I was told that I was not getting the job because of my “storytelling”?
I was stunned then, and I am still puzzled. If the interviewers did not like my storytelling, then why had the offer been made? Isn’t this something that should have been determined during my two interviews? And, by the way, what is a job interview if not storytelling? Something just doesn’t smell right.
It occurs to me that “storytelling” might be code for “We decided that you’re too old.” As a person pushing 60 years of age, I have encountered this kind of age discrimination before.
By the way, no one from the Conklin Center even bothered to contact any of my references or former work supervisors. I know because I made contact with them myself and asked. None of them had been contacted. In other words, Conklin Center representatives interviewed me twice, offered me a position dependent on two conditions and then changed their minds without even bothering to look in to either of those conditions. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that something unsavory is going on.
I understand that this is “at will” employment and that the Conklin Center has the legal right to rescind their employment offer. Furthermore, age discrimination is very hard to prove. I’m not writing about what is legally allowed. My concern is what is ethically correct.
Once an offer of employment is made subject to two conditions, the only way the offer can ethically be rescinded is due to one of those conditions. That is definitely not the case here. If my interviewers had second thoughts about me after they crossed the threshold of an offer, they owed it to me to call me back in and discussed their misgivings with me. I deserved that consideration.
I know that the Conklin Center does good work. That is the main reason why I wanted to be part of the team. However, it is not enough for an organization to do good work. It also matters how an organizations treats people. This is as true of organizations as it is of individuals.
If you don’t think that I was mistreated by the Conklin Center, consider this: How would you feel about a potential employer who offered employment to one of the Conklin Center clients and then took it back for a sketchy reason without ever giving them a chance?
I sincerely hope that no Conklin Center client ever gets treated as shamelessly as the Conklin Center treated me.
Considering how I was treated by the leadership of the Conklin Center, I wonder what other horror stories one would uncover if they scratched beneath the surface.
Florida Lions Conklin Centers for the Blind has received accreditation from the National Accreditation Council for Blind and Low Vision Services (NAC). NAC is the only accrediting body that solely focuses on standards and best practices for blind and low vision services with the consumer in mind. Florida Lions Conklin Centers for the Blind has demonstrated that it meets or exceeds the standards set by NAC for delivery of blind and low vision services. The determination for accreditation is a rigorous process that involves self-examination by the organization, an on-site peer review to verify processes and procedures by a team of professionals serving in the field and a review of the findings by the NAC Accreditation Committee. NAC congratulates Florida lions Conklin Centers for the Blind on its accredited status.
Review from Guidestar