98FM have denied claims 0n Twitter by a Dublin woman that she was refused an interview with them due to her ethnic background.
Samia Jalal was turned down for an interview when she applied for the role of marketing executive at the company earlier this year.
However, she claims that when she sent the same CV and the same qualifications using the name Samia Neville - her stepfather's surname - she did receive the call to be interviewed.
98FM deny that their recruitment process involves racial profiling.
Both of these emails were sent to Samia on the morning of 27 May - a rejection to Samia Jalal, and a call to interview to the email address she used under the name Samia Neville.
This tweet, posted by Samia on Wednesday, currently has more than 1,300 retweets.
https://twitter.com/Sammm_J/status/776097534930477056
"The job I applied for was marketing executive for 98FM," she told JOE.
"I heard the job advertised during one of the shows on 98FM. I was looking for a new job for weeks with no luck and hadn't been offered any interviews.
"As my CV is strong and I have lots of experience, my stepdad suggested that I use his Surname, Neville, when applying for jobs. I first sent the application from samiajalal@*******.com and as I had no luck, I then sent it four days later from samianeville@********.com (an email address I set up specifically to apply for jobs).
"I have since realised that this issue needs to be addressed and brought into the spotlight. I'm hoping that this will highlight yet another change needed in today's Ireland."
She added that she submitted both applications before the closing date.
Samia told JOE that she has been contacted by 98FM with a view to setting up a meeting, but has not - at this time - accepted that invitation.
98FM have issued the following statement.
'98FM has been made aware of an incident of alleged racial discrimination regarding a recruitment process that took place in May this year. 98FM has taken the allegation very seriously and has investigated the incident.
'Following this investigation, 98FM is satisfied that in this case there was no intentional racial discrimination in this very unfortunate incident. It appears that, after noticing that Ms Jalal had applied twice with nearly identical CVs, an administrative error was made and one of her CVs was included in the list of CVs which were not successful.
'Ms Jalal was asked to attend for an interview to which she did not accept. 98FM has reached out to Ms Jalal for a meeting however she has not accepted at present.
'98FM is an equal opportunity employer and we pride ourselves on representing Dublin’s many cultures and ethnicities. We have strict policies in place that prevent discrimination of any kind in the workplace.'
