You work for a company that's legally required to at least pretend to care about your basic human rights. But employment is both a legal and moral maze, full of grey areas, exploitable loopholes, and dead ends. And minotaurs. Definitely some minotaurs.

5 Bankruptcy And Bad Credit Prevent You From Getting A Job

Bankruptcy is the economic "Game Over / Continue" screen -- you lost, but you get to start over and try again. It's not to meant to be a permanent badge of shame. Thanks to U.S. Code 525, employers are prohibited from discriminating against potential employees on the basis of past bankruptcy. No use rubbing in your loss.

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This isn't Dark Souls.

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At least, that's how things used to be. Not anymore -- as Starbucks shift manager Eric Myers found to his surprise in 2008. Myers had filed for bankruptcy in search of better financial stability, and landed a managerial job at TooJay's Restaurant, health insurance and all. Only, after giving his two weeks' notice to Starbucks, Myers received a phone call: TooJay's had discovered his bankruptcy, so as far as they were concerned, he could go hang. So he took them to court, because of the Code 525 thing we just mentioned. And he got his ass handed to him.

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The court cited a little-publicized procedural rule whereby whichever side has the most money wins.

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He's not alone. In recent years, several courts have decided to nitpick at a perfectly sound and understandable piece of legislation in order to turn its meaning on its head, mostly for the purpose of screwing the already-underprivileged. You see, U.S. Code 525 is divided into two sections, one pertaining to the public sector, and the other to the private sector. While the language under the public sector section specifically states that a governmental body may not deny employment to a previously bankrupt individual, the section pertaining to the private sector does not specifically prohibit hiring someone like that ... only that they can't discriminate them once they're already employed. So courts have interpreted it in the exact way you suspect: For private employers, denying someone unemployment on the grounds of bankruptcy is A-okay, even though the clause also states that they may not "discriminate against the employment" of such individuals.

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"Sorry, your skills and experience are top-notch, but we're really looking for someone willing to constantly take on debt."

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Oh, and chances are the bankruptcy wouldn't even have helped, because companies are just as unlikely to hire you if you have bad credit. Good luck earning money, person who needs money!