Man in Arnhem gets community service for discriminatory email

The site DutchNews reports today that a 29-year-old man from Arnhem has been given 40 hours community service for writing in an email about a job applicant that he was ‘firstly a dark colour (negro)’.

The email, which caused a national stir in Holland last year, was sent to the applicant – Jeffrey Koorndijk of Deventer – by mistake after he applied for a work experience position at the electronics company.

Jeffrey Koorndijk of Deventer was shocked to get an internal email reacting to his application which read: ‘I’ve had a quick look, is nothing. Firstly a dark colour (negro). And little experience with computers on his cv.’

The shop owner, Mike de Wilde, has since apologised to Koorndijk, saying ‘we made a major error. We wish to distance ourselves from all forms of racism.’

Yesterday, the Arnhem district court dismissed the suspect’s claims that the email was a joke and not meant to be discriminatory. The email made it clear the man was being primarily rejected for his skin colour, the court said.