[Darrell-E]

To me, many people of Middle Eastern and Indian background tend to have offensive body odor. Is there a cultural reason for this?
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Name : Darrell-E, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 56, City : Camarillo, State : CA, Country : United States, 

[D. Ann]

I am a personnel manager who hires many Canadian workers every month. I really must ask for more information on the smell associated with East Indian and Middle Eastern people, whether they are new Canadians, immigrants or Canadian citizens. This is not a criticism, but a request for clarification.

I recently attended a job fair, and spoke to more than 1,000 applicants of all nationalities. Of these applicants, many new Canadians of Indian descent and Middle Eastern decent spoke to me and my team, and provided resumes for employment. In some cases I had to back away from people’s breath because it was so overwhelming. Also, the smell on their person, in a close setting, was very offensive to me and my team (my team was not all white). This was not an isolated incident; it happened many times, and my team even brought it up. Why? Is it because I/we are not used to the smell? I am not trying to imply that it is “unclean.” It is, however, offensive to people who do not smell similar, and frankly I am also facing these same complaints from employees in the workplace: Co-workers, managers, peers.

As a personnel manager, I have dealt with “body odor” problems before, in the employee population, with white females and males. With tact and sometimes with a doctor’s help, it can be resolved. Any suggestions for my problem? Is this issue resulting in discrimination? I am sure it is; what can we do? Again, I am not saying it is wrong. With the breath issue, perhaps I am asking about health standards. Is using mouthwash and toothpaste an accepted hygienic practice? As a workplace manager, what should my employer expect? Standards for the ’90s have been professional attire and clean, neat appearance. Any suggestions or clarification from anyone?

User Detail :  

Name : D. Ann, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 34, City : Burlington, State : NA, Country : Canada, Occupation : Human Resources Manager, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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