Samantha Chirichella(26) was preparing to start a new $70,000-a-year(45 Lakhs in Indian Currency) job as a staff investigator for Con Edison, one of the largest energy companies in the US, when her job offer was completely revoked following a background check.
But it wasn’t a criminal record or anything of the sort that caused her offer to be withdrawn.
No, it was in fact a photo that had been posted to her Instagram three years ago.
According to a report… Con Edison had been performing background checks on Samantha when their legal services department flagged up the photo – which featured Samantha posing for a lesbian shoot.
The photo, which was actually produced for her friend’s art exhibit, saw Samantha posing topless for a mirrored image where she had her lips to a nipple.
Yeah, not so bad, right? That’s not how Con Edison saw it. They withdrew the job offer on the grounds that the image was ‘sexually explicit’.
Samantha felt that the reason behind losing the job offer was not just because of the image, but because of her sexual orientation, which had been discussed in the comments under the photo.
A user called Danielle had written: ‘It’d be hotter if it was us.’ Samantha had answered, ‘hahah I agree :)’.
Because of this, she filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing Con Edison of discriminating against her for her sexual orientation.
Arguing that her photo was art, her lawyer, Arthur Schwartz said: ”The work was no more sexually explicit that the works of Da Vinci, Titian or Michaelangelo, and less explicit than photos published in Sports Illustrated.’
