The ‘pregnant South African’ denied a job interview? She’s American

This article is more than six years old.
Published on February 11, 2019 at 15:30
1 min read
By Tendai DUBE

An article being shared on Facebook claims to be about a South African woman who was denied an interview because she was pregnant and later got her revenge by inheriting millions. The claim is misleading as it is based on an American woman who does claim discrimination but does not become a millionaire.

The Facebook post from January 26, 2019 is linked to a headline titled: “South African woman job interview denied because she was pregnant - 2 weeks later, she fires back”.

A screenshot taken on February 11, 2019 of the misleading post by ZA Daily News

The same story can be found posted here. It identifies the woman as Lindsey Wilson, a 24-year-old South African woman living in Durban.

But a Google reverse image search of the picture in the article leads to an interview conducted by US TV network Fox 13 on August 9, 2018 about a Lindsey Wilcox living in Florida -- see the interview below.

Wilcox said a popular family diner in Florida denied her an interview because she was pregnant. After a backlash on social media, Wilcox says she received an apology and another opportunity to interview for the job -- which she declined.

She says nothing about a “R12 million inheritance” as the misleading article claims.

It is illegal in South Africa to discriminate against an employee or fire them because they are pregnant.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail