Black comment no joke

Julia Eru was told she wouldn't be hired because of her skin colour. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A young job hunter was stunned to get a rejection email saying she wouldn't be hired because she was "black".

Julia Eru, 20, sent her CV to a Yahoo email address after seeing an ad online and received the reply: "Sorry we don't hire blacks, no offence meant."

"I thought it was a joke - but the more I looked at it, I realised it wasn't," she said.

The part-Maori, part-European hospitality management student from the North Shore International Academy is looking for part-time work to fit around her studies.

She tested the "disgusting" response by sending another application from an email account belonging to her half-sister, who has a European surname.

The response was: "Hi Honey positions are now closed. Lots of love Andria."

Eru then sent another email from her account saying she would report the company if she wasn't given the manager's contact details and got the reply: "This company is no longer, so report to whom you like ... it went broke 4 days ago. If a company did not want to hire a specific skin colour then so be it, as most blacks in my experience steal anyway and I don't care you if find it offensive, it's reality. So GET OVER IT."

The job was listed on Gumtree, a website for classified ads, and has since been removed.

Attempts to locate the company behind the advert and the people responsible for the emails were unsuccessful.

The Human Rights Act 1993 states it is illegal to discriminate and withhold a position against someone on the basis of their colour, race, ethnic or national origins, disability, sex (including pregnancy or childbirth status), marital or family status, age, religious or ethical belief, political opinion, employment status, or sexual orientation.

Eru has since been offered work in a bridal store but she is still angry.

"It was wrong on so many levels," she said. "How can people treat others like that?"