HR Manager Fired After Making Fun of Vietnamese Immigrant's English

Minh Huynh did not even realize the extent of the HR manager's discrimination until his daugther Emily explained it to him.

Woman holding 'Immigrants Are Welcome Here' sign.
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Image via Getty/SAUL LOEB

Woman holding 'Immigrants Are Welcome Here' sign.

This week, a stunning story of discrimination against immigrants went viral on Twitter, and even though Emily Huynh, 18, has been helping her 52-year-old dad, Minh, a Vietnamese immigrant who has been living in America since 1995, look for jobs.

Emily told BuzzFeed News that her father had been unemployed for two years, but used to own a restaurant and later worked as an overnight truck driver for 13 years before being laid off. She usually proofreads his emails before he sends them, but he apparently decided to send one application off to Dash Delivery without Emily’s help. While we don’t know the full text of the email, Emily shared the HR manager’s incredibly rude and unprofessional answer.

Non-English speakers really have it hard bc my dad just got rejected from this job offer and the email literally stated “Let me tell you now, if you no speak English I will send you Home-“ Wtf.. + all of Bruce’s emails we’re also very unprofessional & passive aggressive pic.twitter.com/YDXNHVW7bH
I understand that the job requires English but his email(s) could’ve been handled way more professionally. This email was gross, unnecessary and degrading.

“As soon as I read it, I knew he was making fun of my dad’s lack of English,” Emily told BuzzFeed. “I was outraged but my dad was confused until I explained it to him.” In a separate tweet, Emily revealed that her dad wasn’t even that hurt, he was just confused that someone would refuse to hire him because he had bad grammar. Emily added that immigrant parents often “do not understand the depth of discrimination [and] therefore don’t react like us.”

Update: My dad isn’t that hurt, he just doesn’t fully understand the concept of someone not hiring him for his lack of English when he has more experience than most people. pic.twitter.com/xa2DA9kn7h

When Emily shared the email to her Twitter account, she wanted to bring the situation to the attention of people in her surrounding community. She did not expect it to go viral, but her father really appreciated the outpouring of support.

Update: he’s reading his article and is overwhelmed by the amount of support everyone is giving him! pic.twitter.com/fNnxYof6Kf

The attention from Twitter also helped in another way: Door Dash somehow heard of the situation and fired the “trash” employee, Bruce Petersen, who treated Minh badly. “Mr. Petersen’s communication was inappropriate and inconsistent with our company’s values,” the email read. “Our company is an equal opportunity employer and it is proud of its diverse workforce.”

BEST UPDATE: HE GOT FIRED YALL!! I LOVE EVERYONE WHO SHARED THIS, LIKED THIS, READ THIS ARTICLE ETC. WE NO LONGER HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS TRASH❤️😭 pic.twitter.com/tA1PzenuPx

Bruce himself wrote to Minh to apologize. The greatest part of it all, though, is that Emily’s father forgave him and “just hopes that people learn from their ignorance.” His English may not be fluent, but we all may have learn a thing or two from Minh's grace.

Update: Bruce himself has apologized with an email stating that he understand his wrong-doings and he begged for forgiveness. My dad forgives him and just hopes that people learn from their ignorance. pic.twitter.com/6OZWN7sxES

A large number of the people who replied to Emily’s original tweets suggested that the family sue Bruce and Door Dash for discrimination. Some even offered to take on the case pro-bono.

We have been in contact with their headquarter office and the business has been notified. Please message me if your dad wants to take legal action, the attorney I’ve reached out to is willing to take on your case pro bono.

However, the family decided against taking legal action, at Minh's Huynh’s behest, since he doesn’t want to be “confrontational.” Emily also shared a notebook that her father keeps with English vocabulary words that he teaches himself daily.

Check up: Even though we appreciate all the encouragement to make it a law suit, my dad has forgiven and wants to move on. He says he doesn’t want to be confrontational, what happened has happened. Btw this is my dads notebook he keeps near his laptop, he teaches himself daily :) pic.twitter.com/0tWFl5H9Hx

Lots of people wrote to Emily on Twitter with job opportunities for her father. Emily told BuzzFeed that he had been “flooded” with job offers and is now “deciding between opportunities.” A well deserved happy ending, indeed.

Wow that is absolutely horrible!! Is you dad still looking for a position?! I recruit for positions in the Redmond, WA area! I schedule interviews for manufacturing, assembly, warehouse, and production! Let me know and I can send my profesisonal contact info over!
Best of luck!!
💝 tell your dad to keep his head up. What kind of work is he looking to do? My family and most of my friends live in Seattle and I can reach out to them to see if they know of anywhere hiring.
Are you guys in Washington state? If so there is a warehouse out here in renton I work at. And I have a supervisor that would be more than happy to look over an application for a morning shift opening&possibly a graveyard opening.😊🙏

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