Bupa CEO Iñaki Ereño runs a multi-billion-pound company in the U.K. I have no doubt that his success in that and previous roles means he knows how to assemble a team. But years and years of leadership roles haven’t taught him one very important thing: When you sit down with a reporter to talk about how you hire, you probably shouldn’t emphasize that you have a legally sketchy method.
In Ereño’s case, he told Fortune’s Oriana Rosa Royle he wants to see candidates who order wine at a lunch interview. Royle writes:
“I tend not to like people that don’t have any initiative,” Ereño tells Fortune. “Imagine if my drink is a glass of water. I’m very happy with someone who says, ‘Do you mind if I have a glass of wine?’”
In fact, the Fortune 500 Europe boss says he’d prefer that to a candidate walking into the lunch interview, seeing his glass of water and ordering the same.
Showing initiative is great. But what he’s doing can be illegal discrimination in the U.K. and the U.S.
Don’t set yourself up for a discrimination claim
Ereño’s decision to classify what drink someone orders at dinner with their ability to take initiative eliminates candidates of multiple religions, as well as pregnant women and some people with protected disabilities.
To keep reading, click here: This CEO’s Unusual Wine Test Could Land His Company in Hot Water