ARIZONA NEWS

Arizona man accuses GoDaddy of religion, weight discrimination

Jun 4, 2015, 7:35 AM | Updated: 7:35 am

...

PHOENIX — A software engineer from Queen Creek, Arizona, claimed he was the target of religious discrimination by Scottsdale-based Internet domain registrar GoDaddy.

Keith Connolly applied for a job with the company in April 2014 after a member of its talent acquisition team encouraged him.

He said he had reservations about working for GoDaddy because of its “risqué advertisements” but was eventually convinced by a recruiter.

“One of the reasons they had convinced me to go down and actually do the interview is because they had told me that their persona was changing,” Connolly said.

The software engineer said he felt that the application process was going well and he had completed several rounds of interviews; however he eventually received a generic rejection email apparently sent by the company’s recruiting team.

KTAR obtained a copy of that email and attached to the bottom of it is what Connolly believed to be a message mistakenly forwarded to him.

The message said, “About Keith he’s great for the job in skills but he looks worse for wear do we really want an obeese (sic) Christian? Is that what our new image requires of us.”

Connolly said he has battled with weight issues for many years and it is the result of a childhood tumor that kept him from being able to walk properly until he was an adult.

“It is kind of hard to have someone judge you on that level and extra difficult because this is a potential employer,” Connolly said.

In addition to the comments about his weight, Connolly said he was extremely offended by what he referred to as religious discrimination.

“I’m a very, very religious person and being Christian is a huge part of who I am,” he said “So when you’re attacking not only how I look but my faith (too) it’s a double whammy.”

The email left Connolly embarrassed and depressed, he said, but he did not inform anyone about it until recently, telling his attorney Casey Yontz.

“This is what we like to call a smoking gun,” Yontz said. “They had basically written down ‘Hey we’re not hiring you because you are an obese Christian.’ ”

Though Connolly and Yontz wanted to take legal action against GoDaddy, the case was time-barred under employment discrimination law, meaning it had passed the statute of limitations.

Yontz said he reached out to GoDaddy and asked that the company issue an apology to his client.

“They said they weren’t going to apologize and that was the end of it,” he said.

“I just wanted an apology,” Connolly said. “I wanted GoDaddy to send me a letter or an email and say, ‘Look this not how we do business, this is not what we do, this is not who we are as a company and we apologize,’ but I couldn’t even get that.”

In a statement sent to KTAR, GoDaddy said it believed the allegations were without merit and denied them. The company did not elaborate.

Connolly said his experience with GoDaddy inspired him to launch a crowdfunding campaign in an attempt to develop a general web solutions company huckstart.com.

He said he hoped it will one day directly compete against GoDaddy.

In 2009, the United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit upheld a federal court jury verdict against GoDaddy for unlawful retaliation against an employee who had been fired for complaining that he was being discriminated against because of his religion and national origin.

The judge in that case also found that GoDaddy violated federal record-keeping requirements because it did not retain employment applications relevant to the case.

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here.

Arizona News

Prison cell with bed and pillow and concrete floor...

KTAR.com

Arizona woman sentenced to 15 years in prison for murdering husband

A 43-year-old Arizona woman was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Aug. 26 for murdering her husband near Peridot.

2 hours ago

City of Chandler new water metering technology...

KTAR.com

City of Chandler approves transition to new water metering technology

The Chandler City Council approved a transition to new water metering technology after coming to an agreement with Ferguson Enterprises, LLC as announced on Friday.

2 hours ago

Kiln....

Ron Davis/Phoenix Business Journal

Utah coworking operator Kiln to open second Arizona location

Kiln is nearing the opening date of its second Phoenix-area location, this one at Camelback Colonnade.

3 hours ago

Flagstaff police...

KTAR.com

Flagstaff police asking for help locating man accused of making online mass shooting threats

Flagstaff police are asking for the public's help in locating an Ash Fork man accused of making mass threats online.

12 hours ago

Veterans job fair...

KTAR.com

Veterans job fair to be held at State Farm Stadium this week

DAV (Disabled American Veterans) and RecruitMilitary is scheduled to host the Phoenix Veterans Job Fair in Glendale on Thursday.

14 hours ago

Arizona's 1864 abortion ban...

Associated Press

Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban is officially repealed

Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban on nearly all abortions is officially being repealed Saturday following a decision in April.

16 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Midwestern University

Midwestern University Clinic visits boost student training & community health

Going to a Midwestern University Clinic can help make you feel good in more ways than one.

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Beat the heat, ensure your AC unit is summer-ready

With temperatures starting to rise across the Valley, now is a great time to be sure your AC unit is ready to withstand the sweltering summer heat.

...

Condor Airlines

Condor Airlines can get you smoothly from Phoenix to Frankfurt on new A330-900neo airplane

Adventure Awaits! And there's no better way to experience the vacation of your dreams than traveling with Condor Airlines.

Arizona man accuses GoDaddy of religion, weight discrimination