I had my doubts too about the story esp the part where he claimed to have had sent 100 applications for open postdoc positions in a very niche area of research;

I had my doubts too about the story esp the part where he claimed to have had sent 100 applications for open postdoc positions in a very niche area of research; namely "Plant Biology", which raised my suspicions, and that's why I was instead more interested in the conversation around the topic itself, and I must say that I was a bit disappointed with a few responses that I came across in that thread; where a few people argued that it was OK to discriminate against people of different cultural backgrounds, and they made grand assumptions about those people's religiosity based solely on their birth name, and cited potential conflicts in the workplace arising from that specific consideration, which needless to say is a very absurd notion altogether. Even though most of these opinions weren't favorable with the general audience citing the downvotes, one in particular caught my attention where a denouncement of cultural favoritism in the hiring process where applicants from specific backgrounds were given priority while others esp of Muslim background were treated with suspicions and animosity, seemed to sit well with a given segment of the audience here, which is a testament to the pervasive nature of bias, discrimination, bigotry and intolerance that some people still hold in the workplace toward other minorities, and that we still have a lot of work to do in that area to ensure equality, inclusion, diversity and overall progress for all of us in our professional life.