Employment Beef: A California maker of video games is seeking talented
interns, but there’s a proviso: They must swear off meat and embrace the
vegetarian lifestyle. The company, Bigfoot Inc. of San Francisco, posted the
following job requirements in an e-mail listing: “A vegetarian-owned and managed
emerging sports games startup in San Francisco is looking to hire vegetarian
software development interns for summer 2008 (and potentially beyond) who are
interested in entrepreneurship and promoting vegetarianism.”
Technical skills, by the way, appear equally pivotal for landing the job:
“The successful candidate will be proficient in C or C++, creative, have a
strong work ethic, and be an enthusiastic learner. This paid internship will
provide significant development opportunities, as well as an opportunity to
experience a broad range of roles in a startup company.”
Sounds like a great gig for the right person—providing he/she eschews
meat-eating habits.
Although the request initially sounds discriminatory, there is legal
precedent, albeit in reverse. In 2000, contingent computer contractor Jerry
Friedman sued Southern California Permanente Medical Group for firing him based
on his personal convictions as a vegan. Friedman had been hired as an
independent computer contractor, but the offer was rescinded after he refused to
accept a mumps vaccination, citing ethical and religious beliefs. (The vaccine
for mumps is grown in chicken embryos.) The court subsequently ruled that
veganism is not a religious creed.
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