[BishoyDemian]

Have you tried a change of name?

If your name is associated with these incidents and you need a fresh start, why don't you consider that as an option?

Obviously this might not pass the background check phase. But not all businesses do a detailed due diligence

[chefkoch]

Do you have more than one first name?

Just switch everything to your other first name.

Also do the same as the big corps, send dcma take down notices to the offending websites.

[cancelled]

I have absolutely, I just have worried about the optics of changing my name and having people find out, like it would seem as though I'm running from things and making it worse.

[elil17]

Just change your last name. People will assume it’s due to marriage (which, depending on your gender, will either be totally normal or mildly abnormal). Only the background check companies will look into it and they usually are just there to check criminal record.

[cm2012]

If you get a legal name change, once it's done even your birth certificate is changed. Hr would never know.

[cancelled]

That would be great if it worked like that. I know it's stupid in my position, but I like my name, and I know I didn't really do anything wrong. I feel like it would absolutely just be like letting the offending party win, if I did this. But I need to grow up and accept my new reality.

[moneywoes]

Did your employer not listen to your side of the story at all?

[cancelled]

My manager did and I could tell they believed, but the optics of it all I imagined made it too toxic to be worth defending me over. Racist, sexist content was falsely attributed to me.

[tshaddox]

In what sense were there “optics” beyond the company? Was this incident public, or just on some forum that would only show up when people Google your name?

[cancelled]

Some other platform picked it up and started bagging on me. Not national news public, but still.

[dustintrex]

Until HR requests your academic records, references or anything else that refers to you by your old name.

[jcrites]

I’ve never had an employer request academic records after working at multiple FAANG companies — except perhaps right out of college, but I’m not sure even then.

Unless you’re applying for a job that’s high-profile (like VP or C-suite), or in a highly regulated industry, I wouldn’t expect this.

Plus you can probably contact your university registrar with your legal name change and ask them to update the transcript to the new name.

[sgerenser]

HireRight background check for 2 different BigTech companies required me to put the contact information of my University’s registrar. I think they did actually verify that I received the degree I said I did, despite that being over 15 years ago now.