Flight Attendant applicants where forced to Strip Down to Underwear during interview

A group of women applying for Flight Attendant jobs were forced to strip off to their underwear during a job interview for Kuwait Airways. Meccti is recruiting staff for the airline in Madrid.

Spain’s Ministry of Labor has launched an investigation to verify the facts. “We don’t like your smile” or “Your body is like a roller coaster” are sayings heard by some candidates for the Kuwait Airways flight attendant position. The position they applied for took place in November at the Meliá Barajas Hotel near Madrid Airport.

Several applicants told Spanish newspaper elDiario.es how this test was conducted. They had to unbutton their shirts and pull up their sweaters and skirts before finally doing tasks in their underwear.

This gives recruiters a good look at their bodies. The practice is completely illegal in Spain and many other countries.

The first test, says one of the candidates, is to have a conversation in English with other applicants: “They reject people who speak English well but at 37 they where too old.

Another young woman had a similar experience. She recalls, “A girl who spoke seven languages ​​was disqualified because she had a small scar on her eyebrow. She was told that the languages ​​didn’t matter, because they don’t hire people with scars.

Another girl was told, She couldn’t pass because of a facial birthmark. Another person, was told she was a bit fat. To another contestant, she said she had didn’t have a nice smile because she was wearing glasses and braces.

Along with this whole process, the recruiter also informs the applicants that if they are selected, they will need to pay €1,900 as a security deposit. “She explained that Kuwait Airways would invest a lot of money in us and that they needed to know that if we were elected, we would be serious about the job”

The Spanish minister of labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, has said about the recruitment process that it was “intolerable behavior” that ”violates the dignity and fundamental rights of these women”
He continued, “It incurs discrimination in access to employment, and collects data that is absolutely irrelevant to the selection process.”

Neither the recruitment agency or Kuwait Airways has replied to ElDiario.es questions about the event.