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I was asked during a 1 on 1 interview during a callback if I was a member of a particular religion. Is this sort of question illegal? If so, what are my options?

Honestly, you aren’t going to like the answer, but you probably should just let it go.

There’s no proof that the question was asked. And you don’t want to burn bridges.

Anonymous User wrote:I was asked during a 1 on 1 interview during a callback if I was a member of a particular religion. Is this sort of question illegal? If so, what are my options?

Options for what exactly? Do you think the person asking was asking to be malicious? I ask because I could imagine a junior associate making a mistake like this because they just don’t have the experience to know better. Unless you have reason to believe it was asked for bad reasons then I would definitely let it go.

That sucks and I’m sorry. Maybe let OCS know it happened. Maybe don’t go to that firm if you have other options.

OP here,

the question was asked "are you a muslim"

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

the question was asked "are you a muslim"

That is really bad. I’m very sorry. I think you have two options. If you have other offers and do not want to work at this firm because of this question, you should tell someone. I would tell OCS like the above poster suggested. I think the firm will be more pissed at the partner than you.

If this is your only play, unfortunately, the answer is that you should probably follow through with the firm and not say anything. You don’t want to let one apparent racist derail your chances at a firm offer. It sucks, I know personally what it feels like, but sometimes you have to suck it up because life ain’t fair.

Further, I genuinely believe that there are a few racists at most law firms. At least you know to avoid this person when you get there.

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

the question was asked "are you a muslim"

Uh, wow. I’d report it to OCS. If the interviewer was an associate, I’d report it to the firm’s HR as well.

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

the question was asked "are you a muslim"

You have no options. Read this blog by a Muslim former O'Melveny attorney. http://brian-boyle-omelveny-torture-att ... ation.html

User outed as tlsthrowaway1 for anon abuse.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

the question was asked "are you a muslim"

You have no options. Read this blog by a Muslim former O'Melveny attorney. http://brian-boyle-omelveny-torture-att ... ation.html

Will you stop spamming the blog every opportunity you get? It's not at all responsive to what the OP was asking about.

nixy wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

the question was asked "are you a muslim"

You have no options. Read this blog by a Muslim former O'Melveny attorney. http://brian-boyle-omelveny-torture-att ... ation.html

Will you stop spamming the blog every opportunity you get? It's not at all responsive to what the OP was asking about.

Huh? It's a post by an attorney who complained of an anti-Muslim comment, from a partner who advocated for Guantanamo torture no less. They gaslit the person and fired him a few months later. If you work for O'Melveny I'd appreciate any color you have to add, but it seems silly to call it irrelevant. I have never heard of anyone, at any firm, complain about a sexist or racist comment and have it turn out well. Plus, I'm not the only one linking it. It has 25,000 views per the counter at the bottom.

Anonymous User wrote:

nixy wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

the question was asked "are you a muslim"

You have no options. Read this blog by a Muslim former O'Melveny attorney. http://brian-boyle-omelveny-torture-att ... ation.html

Will you stop spamming the blog every opportunity you get? It's not at all responsive to what the OP was asking about.

Huh? It's a post by an attorney who complained of an anti-Muslim comment, from a partner who advocated for Guantanamo torture no less. They gaslit the person and fired him a few months later. I'm not the only one linking it. It has 25,000 views according to the counter at the bottom. If you work for O'Melveny I'd appreciate any color you have to add, but it seems silly to call it irrelevant.

I have never heard of anyone, at any firm, complain about a sexist or racist comment and have it turn out well.

It doesn't tell the OP what they should do about their interview question, which is different from what to do if you're working at the firm already. The OP can decide not to take the job if they have other options, and they can at least tell their CSO. And it's a dumb blog. Not saying it's wrong, but it's dumb because the author should have known they'd get exactly the reaction they got.

nixy wrote: It doesn't tell the OP what they should do about their interview question, which is different from what to do if you're working at the firm already. The OP can decide not to take the job if they have other options, and they can at least tell their CSO. And it's a dumb blog. Not saying it's wrong, but it's dumb because the author should have known they'd get exactly the reaction they got.

That's basically all I was saying. OP has no options, other than taking another job. I wouldn't complain to the CSO, because the firm is more important to them than this one student.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

the question was asked "are you a muslim"

You have no options. Read this blog by a Muslim former O'Melveny attorney. http://brian-boyle-omelveny-torture-att ... ation.html

Off-topic, but why would anyone stay at a firm that didn’t give a raise for 5 years?

Also, who tells their partner they’ll quit once they find a job?

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

the question was asked "are you a muslim"

You have no options. Read this blog by a Muslim former O'Melveny attorney. http://brian-boyle-omelveny-torture-att ... ation.html

Off-topic, but why would anyone stay at a firm that didn’t give a raise for 5 years?

Also, who tells their partner they’ll quit once they find a job?

The kind of person simple enough to report a racist or sexist comment.

One more comment on this ... If you're comparing yourself to #MeToo, remember those women were raped, and they were white women, and even that wasn't enough to save them until they banded together. Big difference.

However, I do appreciate the O'Melveny blogger, who I guess has f u money, because O'Melveny will think twice the next time someone reports something. Read the later posts he's on them. It should send a message to all firms.

Anonymous User wrote:I was asked during a 1 on 1 interview during a callback if I was a member of a particular religion. Is this sort of question illegal? If so, what are my options?

Definitely illegal. You should absolutely report it to your school's career services. They could also help you decide whether or not you want to report it to the firm's HR as well.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I was asked during a 1 on 1 interview during a callback if I was a member of a particular religion. Is this sort of question illegal? If so, what are my options?

Definitely illegal. You should absolutely report it to your school's career services. They could also help you decide whether or not you want to report it to the firm's HR as well.

*facepalm* Yes, get advice from a CSO worker making $60,000 a year to review resumes.
1. Numerous people in this thread have told OP that they have no recourse with HR.
2. Women get sexually harassed all the time and no one does anything about it. There was a thread about this a few months ago. One woman got fired because a third party went to HR on her behalf, without telling her!
3. You saw what happened to the Muslim attorney who went to HR.
Biglaw firms help employers discriminate. That's what the labor and employment group does. The cases are on Westlaw. If you don't like that then don't go to biglaw.

nixy wrote:It doesn't tell the OP what they should do about their interview question, which is different from what to do if you're working at the firm already. The OP can decide not to take the job if they have other options, and they can at least tell their CSO. And it's a dumb blog. Not saying it's wrong, but it's dumb because the author should have known they'd get exactly the reaction they got.

Seconding this. That blog is esp. dumb because, even viewing the allegations in the light most favorable to the author, it's clear they went out of their way to find trouble. The author proactively raised a stink about how they were going to refuse to work with a particular senior, then followed that up by trying to get the firm to take action against a powerful partner due to his past legal work for the U.S. government. There was no allegation that OMM ever harassed or mistreated the author prior to his/her going on the warpath.

Why are a bunch of responses to this anon. Once people start quoting each other it becomes difficult to identify who is responding to who. No need to be anon unless you are discussing something that could out you at your job / school.

Anonymous User wrote: Definitely illegal. You should absolutely report it to your school's career services. They could also help you decide whether or not you want to report it to the firm's HR as well.

Be careful with such absolute statements in the absence of other facts. The EEOC guidance puts it a little more equivocally, calling such questions "generally viewed as non job-related and problematic under federal law." We don't know OP's state to know if there would be relevant state laws, and we're assuming OP wasn't interviewing with a religious employer.

That said, working with career services is sound advice.

QContinuum wrote:

nixy wrote:It doesn't tell the OP what they should do about their interview question, which is different from what to do if you're working at the firm already. The OP can decide not to take the job if they have other options, and they can at least tell their CSO. And it's a dumb blog. Not saying it's wrong, but it's dumb because the author should have known they'd get exactly the reaction they got.

Seconding this. That blog is esp. dumb because, even viewing the allegations in the light most favorable to the author, it's clear they went out of their way to find trouble. The author proactively raised a stink about how they were going to refuse to work with a particular senior, then followed that up by trying to get the firm to take action against a powerful partner due to his past legal work for the U.S. government. There was no allegation that OMM ever harassed or mistreated the author prior to his/her going on the warpath.

You did not read it. They complained to their partner about an anti-Muslim statement by a senior (what people are telling OP to do). Their partner fired them. They researched the partner and found out he gave radio interviews promoting torture, so they went to HR (what people are telling OP to do). HR gaslit him for a while (standard operating procedure at corporate HR when an employee complains. It's done to make the person's life difficult while allowing time to pass) and then fired him. http://brian-boyle-omelveny-torture-att ... ation.html

Read the other posts as well, about the letters O'Melveny sent, and the sexual attacks. O'Melveny did the same with a woman attacked by Harvey Weinstein, and with a woman who went to HR at Lions Gate. http://brian-boyle-omelveny-torture-att ... ation.html

This is what biglaw firms do. O'Melveny, Boies, and hundreds of firms operating in private. If you don't like it, stay out of biglaw.

I appreciate the blog, however, because publicity is the only way to keep firms honest.

It’s still dumb. Did he think HR didn’t know about the guy’s past legal work? Of course they did. Why did he think going to HR would make a difference?

And of course the firm defended its clients (the Lions Gate stuff). That’s what they get paid to do. That’s a completely different issue.

And all that is all still really remote from the OP’s actual question. Telling their CSO may not accomplish much, but at least it will be on the record somewhere. The firm might make sure not to have that person interview again.

(And all THAT said, while a firm shouldn’t ask about your religious beliefs, I can imagine a lot of innocent reasons to ask if someone is a Muslim, which is different from the material in the blog you keep using as an example for all big law.)

nixy wrote:It’s still dumb. Did he think HR didn’t know about the guy’s past legal work? Of course they did. Why did he think going to HR would make a difference?

And of course the firm defended its clients (the Lions Gate stuff). That’s what they get paid to do. That’s a completely different issue.

And all that is all still really remote from the OP’s actual question. Telling their CSO may not accomplish much, but at least it will be on the record somewhere. The firm might make sure not to have that person interview again.

(And all THAT said, while a firm shouldn’t ask about your religious beliefs, I can imagine a lot of innocent reasons to ask if someone is a Muslim, which is different from the material in the blog you keep using as an example for all big law.)

I don't know why you're arguing with me because I agree with you, except for the CSO complaint. That seems like farting in the wind, but since you're basically saying to do nothing then I agree.

On Lions Gate, O'Melveny was ostensibly performing and "independent and thorough" investigation. In reality they were defending their client, but that's what HR is going to do. They'll ostensibly "investigate" but in reality they'll pull your offer.

Again, though, I appreciate the blog for the publicity it brings to O'Melveny and all biglaw firms.

I’m arguing with you (or whoever keeps linking to this blog) because I don’t think the blog is at all revelatory and so linking it to answer questions like these is pointless.

Anonymous User wrote:

QContinuum wrote:

nixy wrote:It doesn't tell the OP what they should do about their interview question, which is different from what to do if you're working at the firm already. The OP can decide not to take the job if they have other options, and they can at least tell their CSO. And it's a dumb blog. Not saying it's wrong, but it's dumb because the author should have known they'd get exactly the reaction they got.

You did not read it. They complained to their partner about an anti-Muslim statement by a senior (what people are telling OP to do). Their partner fired them. They researched the partner and found out he gave radio interviews promoting torture, so they went to HR (what people are telling OP to do). HR gaslit him for a while (standard operating procedure at corporate HR when an employee complains. It's done to make the person's life difficult while allowing time to pass) and then fired him. http://brian-boyle-omelveny-torture-att ... ation.html

I did read it. The blog is not remotely relevant, because the blogger hadn't experienced (or even witnessed) any harassment or discrimination when s/he decided to start crusading out of the blue. See https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DN1fLvC_Yqc/ ... Babuse.jpg - the senior hadn't even joined OMM at the time the blogger started making a stink about not wanting to work with him.

In contrast, OP has actually experienced potential discrimination.