Thread by @squidlarkin

while I'm yelling about things that will make me even more unemployable in tech, maybe it's time I talked about why I didn't get that internship. since I clearly can't figure out how to get legal help on my own. I'll not name any names, just in case

I mean... I DID get the internship. I went through the interview process, a formal employment offer was made, and I accepted it. all I needed to do was complete a background check

filled out the form as accurately as I could. some details had to be left out; I have one past employer who doesn't even HAVE a physical address, for instance, and the fields weren't optional, so there was some back and forth about how to navigate that

eventually managed to provide at least a tiny bit of evidence that each of the jobs I had mentioned had, in fact, occurred. submitted the background check. waited for a response.

"we found some discrepancies"

"what kind of discrepancies?"

"you have these debts"

they had not asked me to disclose any info about debts I may have had, so how a debt could be a "discrepancy" is still unclear to me

iirc, they mentioned two debts, both under $3000, and I acknowledged that both of them sounded accurate

"why haven't you paid them?"

"because I have no income. you've seen my work history, you know how little I've been working lately."

"why haven't you been working?"

"how is this relevant? there's no discrepancy."

"this is a cybersecurity position, we have to be careful."

it was clear that I had to give them an answer.

"because I have a mental health condition, which I believe will not be an issue for this position, with my current course of treatment."

"thank you. we'll get back to you."

and of course I was denied. because of discrepancies.

so... I was clearly discriminated against, right? either because of my economic status or because of my mental health. I'd already been judged fit for the job. I had an offer.

do I have any legal recourse here? do I have a case? or is this sort of thing allowed?