Chicago recruiter accidentally emails Asian-American female jobseeker racist phrase
An Asian-American woman in Chicago said that, upon confirming a job interview, a vice president of a local recruiting firm sent her an email containing a commonly-known racist phrase.
"Me love you long time," reads an e-mail that Connie Cheung said was accidentally sent to her by Jim McMahon, the vice president of Chicago Search Group.
Cheung applied for a job as an office management assistant on LinkedIn and was invited for a phone interview by McMahon via email, Block Club Chicago first reported.
But a day after confirming the interview, Cheung received the offending message sent to her accidentally by McMahon.
The email was intended for McMahon's superior, Brian Haugh, who was listed as president of the company on its website. The site since appears to have been taken down.
"I was just shocked because it's been a while since I've personally received such racial and ignorant commentary relating to my ethnicity," Cheung told USA TODAY.
The phrase "me love you long time" originates from the 1987 film "Full Metal Jacket," in which a Vietnamese prostitute approaches an American soldier. It is widely considered among Asian-Americans to be racist and sexist.
McMahon apologized to Cheung for the offensive remark.
"I called Connie to apologize directly to her," McMahon said to USA TODAY Monday.
"This was an isolated incident that will not happen again and my sincerest apologies go out to Connie and anyone else who was offended by this statement."
"It was intended for my business partner of over a decade who was also my college roommate," he added.
"This does not excuse or justify anything. However, imagine if everyone had every inappropriate comment or poor joke that was typed, texted or spoken available for the public to see. It is a reminder for all of us that we should communicate with anyone as if everyone was listening."
Haugh also issued an apology to USA TODAY.
"It is clearly not our intent to add or create anything but positive value in the lives of our clients and candidates," he said. "We have apologized directly to the candidate and have addressed with our team that this conduct is unacceptable."
However, he reportedly threatened a friend of Cheung's with libel in an email after he reached out on behalf of Cheung to the company to ask for an apology.
"With all due respect, I am focused on bigger problems than your friend being offended by a movie quote," an email provided by Cheung shows Haugh saying.
"You may want to Google libel laws before your crew posts things publicly. Our attorneys are on call."
Since the incident, Cheung has continued her hunt for a job. It's taken about a month thus far.
"(The incident) also made me worried because who knows if other employers also feel racially prejudiced against me and made me wonder if that's prohibiting me from getting a job," she told USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago recruiter accidentally emails Asian-American female jobseeker racist phrase
