PAM Transport doesn't like gay people

I applied with PAM Transport a few months ago with hopes to follow my significant other's footsteps into the trucking industry. I have a history with Ryder Truck Rental, and decided that now was the time to put down the wrenches and drive. The application process went through fine, got to school and all went downhill. It was a 3-week course and by the middle of week 2 I had already tested out with the school (pre-tests) and was set to go to the state testing facility. I got a call from Driver Solutions saying that PAM pulled my application for an undisclosed reason. Upon calling PAM, I was given the run around for about 2 1/2 hours until I was able to speak to the director of safety. This is where it gets interesting.

Upon getting on the phone with the director of safety, he was very uninterested in telling me his company's hiring policies. He told me that there was an issue on my MVR and it disqualifies me from employment. I initiated a conference call with my hometown's police station in order to try and resolve the MVR issue. The representatives at the police station were able to pull up my entire history, and only one thing on the report matched what PAM was claiming. When the police hung up, I told the director that he even heard it from the horse's mouth; there is no disqualifying issue on my MVR, so what is the issue? He goes on to tell me multiple times that Arkansas is a hire at will state, so he can hire or fire anybody for any reason so long as its not based on race, sex, or religion.

After I asked him for the 3rd time to tell me his company's policies on hiring and what qualifies a potential prospect for employment, he kept avoiding the question and later said "You must be stupid or something if you're STILL not getting it that I don't want you on my team!" From there, we bicker a little bit, and he made an offensive remark in which I responded "If #### couldn't drive, I wouldn't be calling you right now. THIS ### is at the top of his class, way ahead of schedule, cleared to take the state test and get to work. MY HUSBAND WORKS FOR PAM and he just got approved to be a trainer. So don't you tell me that I'm in no way qualified to work for you guys when ALL I'VE LIVED AROUND has been PAM." He then yelled "NO ###### WILL WORK UNDER ME, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT; WHAT IS HIS NAME?!"

*click* oops, disconnected!

Since then, I've sent emails to a couple executives of the company, but I'm holding off from attempting contact with the CEO or going to the courts because being a veteran of the US Army, I've learned to follow the chain of command. It's been two weeks since I sent the first batch of emails, and I'm due for another round quite soon.

Never have I encountered such bigotry. I understand people are homophobic, but I'm pretty sure I've earned a little respect having risked my life for my country.

 

I am male, but that shouldn't matter. I have a habit of explaining everything in the greatest of detail. If I explained everything, it would be VERRRRRY long. Just tried hitting the key points. I was on the phone with this dude for over 45 minutes.

The issue with my MVR was that they said there were two speeding tickets, four other moving violations (which they wouldnt tell me what they were) and three accidents. They must have had someone else's MVR in front of them because I have one accident and one ticket dating back to when I first got my license. Essentially, I pissed off the director by not just "going away". Had they told me that they had other applicants who had a better MVR than myself, I wouldn't have been upset. It just escalated to sexual orientation after listening to this guy blab on as if I was his friend or something. He was probably the most unprofessional person I've ever spoken to on the phone. If I recall correctly, he answered the phone saying "Yeah?!" when the secretary transferred me. He never told me his name either; only "I am the director of safety, what do you need?"

 

I believe the secretary I spoke with in the beginning said something to the director because when I was originally told "You were denied because of safety; there are way too many things on your MVR", I replied with "That makes no sense.. my husband has a worse MVR than I do and he had no trouble obtaining employment." Then I had a full on conversation with the lady for about a half hour about how I'm disappointed to hear that I was dropped because the only reason I went to school for driving was to drive with him. She gave me insight about husband and wife teams, and said she's never known of a same sex couple to be working for them. I joked and said "I guess I would have been the first, huh?"

Did I dig my own grave?

 

Thanks! I actually graduated CDL school about two weeks ago. I'm held up on license transfers right now. Indiana issues a paper-type temporary and I have to wait for my hard copy license to be sent to my house; then I need to convert it to Pennsylvania, which also uses a temporary-to-perm system. =/

 

I agree, it's nobody's business but my own.. but sometimes it ends up working out better for me. Quick story: My class at C1 in Ft. Wayne was about 80% prior military. One female, and MAN was she tough. We ended up talking about when I was stationed in Germany since she wasn't able to go, and I mentioned my roommate was gay but he was the best roomie I ever had. She said "You don't mind gay people?" and I said no, because I am too. At that point, she opened up and became "good friend" material. We still talk daily LOL. It's funny, because she said she felt a sense of security around me, since she knew I wouldn't try to take advantage of her. I still laugh at the fact that it blew up like wildfire that there was a gay person in trucking school, and nobody had a clue xD

After I graduated school, I had to stay there for the 3rd week to complete the minimum of 120 hours of instruction. Yes, I sat there doing nothing for a week. My other had a load going through Ft. Wayne, so he was able to stop for the night and spend some time. I ended up dragging him into the study group that I was conducting and he went on and on for about two hours about being a truck driver, working for PAM, being a trainer, the company itself, and how he wants to leave in light of this incident of mine.

EDIT: I don't have his number. The only point of contact I had was a speed dial button for "KIMBERLY". If I had to speak to anyone, I used her number and got routed anywhere I needed.