Now this may seem unfair to former employees who deserve favorable recommendations, but my company is not the one being unfair; our tort system is to blame.

We likewise do not accept or rely on letters of recommendation from former employers although we do look at the job references of prospective employees. The only time we accept recommendations is if they come from present employees whose opinions we respect. A present employee's recommendation that his friend or relative is reliable, dependable, punctual, experienced, trustworthy and personable is worth more than a resume filled with college degrees and 20 years of employment history. Of course we would fire any employee who lied to us to get his friend or relative a job.

Even with an excellent recommendation from a present employee we would still do a careful background check. In certain instances regarding sensitive positions we will ask all job candidates for written approval to check their references and to sign a release allowing their former employer to disclose negative information (if there is any) without fear of legal liability.

We also search criminal records (where allowed by law), look up credit reports and check the candidate's Linkedin, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and other Internet sources for information. An arrest record per se does not mean anything, but you should be careful about convictions regarding violence. If your new employee assaults a customer or co-worker the courts may find you were negligent in hiring him and be held responsible for punitive damages, lost wages, property damages, and medical bills.

As for MySpace, nude photos of a female employee will not necessarily disqualify a candidate (1) (although I find it personally gratifying). If a candidate voted for Obama it's unlikely I would want to hire him or her (2).

Islam is not a Religion

Unfortunately the United States still considers Islam a religion rather than a violent political organization so anti-discrimination laws may prevent you from overtly refusing to hire a Muslim candidate. The best bet is to avoid interviewing anyone who you suspect may be a Muslim. The reason is that once you have interviewed a Muslim and you don't give him or her a job, you are likely to get sued for religious discrimination (3).

There are many reasons not to hire Muslims; one of them is that Muslims like to apply for jobs their religion forbids them to do (4) or for which they are not suited or qualified. Another is that it costs more to accommodate Muslims, a lot more: Five prayer times a day, wash basins, separate eating rooms, Muslim sensitivity training for non-Muslim employees, trying to find other work when they refuse to do the job which they were hired to do (5), etc.

The main reason not to hire Muslims is that you will encourage more to come to America. Imagine that you are a restaurant owner and you are stupid enough to hire Muslims. If enough idiots like you hire Muslims your community will have enough Muslims to cause the building of a Mosque. What's wrong with that? How about they try to put you out of business because your restaurant serves alcohol and you are too close to their mosque (6)?

While Jews have been in America since the founding of our country, you can't tell that they are here except for their great contributions to American culture. Muslims have only been coming in recently and already they want to change how WE live.

To prevent interviewing a Muslim, screen the resumes carefully to weed out possible problem candidates and if possible hire a private investigation firm. It's cheaper doing that than hiring a Muslim and reaping the losses from doing so. You are less likely to get sued for not hiring a Muslim if you don't actually talk to one.

Disclaimer:

To keep oneself in the least legal hot water, you are urged to consult a specialist in employment law before establishing a screening program or hiring anyone. If you do not want to hire Muslims do everything you can to avoid interviewing them. If it cannot be helped and you find yourself with an appointment with a fellow named Mahmud bin Azz, for example, as an added precaution try to have a photo of Yasser Arafat (autographed if you can fake it) behind you when conducting the interview. Hopefully when you turn down Mahmud for the job of bacon slicer he won't sue you for discrimination. [Read my full Disclaimer here]

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ENDNOTES

(1):

Planck's Constant, Mayors in Underwear and Muslim Culture

Earlier this year TV station KATU reported a story about Oregon Mayor Carmen Kontur Gronquist who had lingerie photos of herself posing on the town's fire truck on her MySpace website before she was mayor.

...

The town has almost 500 residents enough of whom were so concerned with her Myspace page than her views on taxes, local infrastructure, housing, and development that they got her fired. It seems we have our own brand of Taliban running around in this country. While we make fun of Muslims who are mired in the 7th century A.D. we should not ignore the fact that many of our own citizens are not far from them either.

(2):

Planck's Constant, Firing Employees who voted for Obama

As it happens I have fired workers for smoking cigarettes and I certainly will not hire anyone who smokes, not just on the job but at all. In the same manner I certainly will not hire anyone who voted for Obama.

As for workers who already work for me, if I had to fire 6 workers I would look at the easiest jobs to replace and fire the least productive Obama-voting workers first. If I didn't need to fire anyone I wouldn't fire them just because they voted for Obama, but certainly they would be on my short list the moment Obama pressed for some law to be passed that would screw my company.

(3):

Radarsite, Muslim job applicant: Hire me or else

It seems too lunatic to be true. But here a hair salon boss reveals how she was driven to the brink of ruin - and forced to pay £4,000 for 'hurt feelings' - after refusing to hire a Muslim stylist who wouldn't show her hair at work.

For Sarah Desrosiers, meeting Bushra Noah was not a moment in her life that she would describe as especially memorable.

Not only was it brief - lasting little more than ten minutes - but it was rapidly obvious to Sarah that Bushra was not the person for the junior stylist position she was trying to fill at her hairdressing salon.

Sarah's reasoning? Quite simply that Bushra, a Muslim who wears a headscarf for religions reasons, had made it clear she would not be removing the garment even while at work.

Sarah Desrosiers says she did nothing wrong by not employing Bushra Noah and would have done the same if an employee refused to remove a baseball cap

(4):

Planck's Constant, 13 Things to Consider before Hiring Muslims

It is morally wrong to discriminate against anyone for their religious beliefs. However, refusing to hire someone precisely because their religious beliefs conflict with the purposes for which the business was organized is not discrimination any more than refusing to hire a black actor to play an albino is racist. It is not illegal to discriminate against midgets if the NBA does not hire them as players, nor should it be.

..

This is why you should never hire Muslims: a person of any other religious persuasion does not even want to have a job which offends his beliefs. Jehovah's Witnesses do not apply for jobs at blood banks, devout Catholics who oppose abortion do not apply for jobs at abortion clinics, religious Jews do not butcher pigs, nor do Hindus slaughter beef for McDonald's. Muslims on the other hand, because they believe the world must ultimately become Dar al-Islam and cater to their whims, gladly infest businesses whose practices are in conflict with their faith. They insist Western culture must change to accommodate their beliefs. In these cases, confrontation is delightfully enjoyed by Muslims.

(5):

Islam in Action, UK Muslim Sues Supermarket Chain, Because he had to Handle Alcohol

A Muslim from Derby is suing supermarket giant Tesco for religious discrimination because he was asked to handle crates of alcohol against his beliefs.

Mohammed Ahmed, of Upper Dale Road, Normanton, also accused Tesco of victimisation and harassment during a three-day employment tribunal.

Mr Ahmed was employed as a warehouse operative, which included driving fork-lift trucks, at the firm's Lichfield warehouse in September last year.

The 32-year-old told the tribunal he was not made aware he would be required to handle alcohol when he started the job, a claim denied by Tesco.

(6):

Infidels are Cool, Tennesse muslims whine about restaurant that serves alcohol being too close to mosque

Building owner Trevor Hill wants to offer alcoholic drinks along with home-cooking-style dinner and lunch menus, and he hopes to launch the eatery in about a week. He'll keep the restaurant open as late at night as is still profitable in hope of appealing to the young residents of Fort Sanders, where the building is located.

The possibility that the restaurant could serve as a local drinking hangout bothers mosque attendees like board member Nadeem Sidiqqi.

Islam prohibits the consumption of alcohol, but Sidiqqi said the protest isn't an attack on drinking in general, just a call for buffer zones for religious establishments.

"People may say 'we may not want to go to this mosque' if it's not a good environment," Sidiqqi said. "You want an area where you can bring your kids or your family."

Hill counters that mosque-goers are unlikely to be disturbed by noise or patrons from his restaurant. The entrances are on opposites sides of the two buildings, and Hill said that he has offered to work with mosque board members during the holy period of Ramadan, when Knoxville-area Muslims often pray at the mosque late into the night.

Hill feels he is being unjustly targeted.

"I've taken a building that's been a total eyesore … really gone out on a limb and taken a risk for the benefit of the Fort Sanders community," he said, explaining that he has a mortgage and roughly a $1 million investment in the building. "It's not fair for me to be discriminated against any more than it is for them to be discriminated against."