A TikToker sparked a debate about whether it’s appropriate to share personal views during the job application process after he said an online job application asked for his stance on abortion.
Kyle Rehl (@kylerehl) said in a May 30 video he was applying for a job online, and he was asked to provide a minimum 200-word paragraph on his personal stance on abortion.
“Can someone tell me why I was filling out this random job application and they thought it was appropriate to ask me this question?” Rehl said in a voiceover.
@kylerehl SPOILER I applied like for part 2 #badjobs #jobpostings #weirdjobs #weirdquestions ♬ original sound – kyle rehl
After receiving 1.7 million views by June 6, Rehl posted two follow-up videos, one in which he identifies the company that posted the job as Live Action, a nonprofit anti-abortion organization.
In the second video Rehl posted about the application, he shares a greenscreen video of himself with a screenshot of the job description, which is for a marketing associate position.
“I looked at the job description, (it) doesn’t mention abortion anywhere in here,” Rehl said. “(It) wasn’t until I scrolled to the bottom of the page it mentions they want to end abortion.”
The online job description does not use the word abortion until the last section of the posting, which identifies Live Action as “a media and news nonprofit dedicated to ending abortion and inspiring a culture that respects all human life.”
Above the mention of abortion, however, the posting says applicants must be “committed to Live Action’s mission.” It also lists tracking “pro-life news and current events” as a requirement and “experience with pro-life messaging” as a prior qualification.
Rehl posted a third video about the application, saying he applied to the job posting with facetious answers.
“After realizing it was an anti-abortion organization, I decided to continue to mess with them, and I filled out the rest of the application accordingly,” Rehl said.
Using a fake name, Rehl provided false personal information like listing his education as “Doctor of Medicine in Abortion at Fetus University” and prior work experience as a “Sales Manager at Abortions.com.”
Commenters across the three videos shared their thoughts on whether or not it was appropriate for the posting to ask for the applicant’s views on abortion. Some said it would depend on whether the position worked specifically in the healthcare industry.
“Is it in a facility that provides abortions? would you be expected to perform an abortion? That is the only way that would be even slightly relevant,” one user wrote.
Though some users contested the legality of the question, it is not specifically illegal to ask an applicant for their opinion on abortion.
However, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is illegal to discriminate against job applicants on the basis of sex, which includes pregnancy. It is also illegal to fire employees if they have had or may have an abortion.
After Rehl revealed the job was for Live Action, some users said being asked for an opinion on abortion was not surprising.
“Live action is a pro life non profit. Obviously they will ask about abortion,” one user wrote.
Rehl said in the comments that he found the job listing on Indeed and that he was “def lazy on the research” of the company.
“You gotta send out a ton of apps every day in this market and they purposefully made it sound like every other media job in the field,” Rehl said.
The Daily Dot reached out to Rehl via TikTok comment, Instagram direct message, and email as well as to Live Action via email for comment.
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