Do y'all wanna hear about the time that I was offered a science faculty position and the university withdrew their offer after I asked about their policies regarding maternity leave? Because apparently women in their mid/late 20s are useless if planning on having kids? 1/

Let's just say it's a VERY small, private, STEM-focused university in PA. They headhunted me from LinkedIn. The HR recruiter was so friendly and welcoming at first. I had two interviews via Skype, then invited for onsite. I drove down from Buffalo 3 hours, so excited! 2/

I was mostly excited about the opportunity to do teach, advise and conduct interdisciplinary research at the school! They paid for my hotel and promised to comp me for mileage from my drive. 3/

During my onsite interview I gave a fantastic lecture about the molecular biology of the female reproductive system and even included a hands-on activity using Play-Doh to make physical models of the system. I always do hands on activities with my students when I teach! 4/

I was taken out for lunch by the science faculty, they were soooooo nice, so welcoming. They seemed just as exciting to meet me as I was to meet them! We had a lot in common. After lunch the HR representative sat down with me and we talked about salary, benefits, etc. 5/

I was welcomed several times to ask ANY questions that I had and at that time, I had not been given any documents to review for benefits or policies so I kindly accepted any verbal info they gave with the anticipation of receiving an electronic document detailing the policies. 6/

Since the university is so small, I even had the opportunity to sit down with the president of the university, which was really cool! He's a businessdude and I asked him about his future visions for the university. It was nice to hear his perspective! 7/

After the interview I drove home and sent thank-you notes to everyone for their time and hospitality. I was offered the position about three days later! I was thrilled! The benefits package was attached to the offer letter but no faculty handbook attached. I asked for it. 8/

I was invited by the HR rep to "either accept the offer as-is or negotiate" the offer. I was able to see some of the salaries posted on a public website and mine was about 20k lower than the person they just hired for Assistant Professor, the position I was offered. 9/

They were hesitant to share the handbook b/c it was under revision at the time and not finalized. I stressed that I would not be able to make a decision without knowing what the expectations of the position were. They understood and sent me the un-finalized copy of the book. 10/

I asked for the salary I deserved, which was the one they gave to the person they hired two weeks before me for the same position. They didn't match it. I was still interested in reading more about their policies. Maybe there were other incentives for accepting the position? 11/

I read the handbook, mostly everything made sense to me except there was no sick or vacation policy-- that was new to me-- I had a ton of questions about that, there was nothing about maternity leave and I was planning on being there long-term and needed to know about that. 12/

While asking all of this, I am reaffirming my excitement about the position offer and being incredibly kind. I asked for a higher relocation bonus b/c the housing market in this city was significantly higher. The HR rep was new and didn't have answers to many of the questions 13/

I received this email out of nowhere. Mind you, I negotiated ONCE and reasonably for a higher salary and relocation bonus after they welcomed the opportunity to negotiate. Only requested info about the handbook and maternity leave. Offer letter email vs. offer withdraw email 14/

Over the span of about a week and a half I asked probably a total of 4 questions and the maternity question was the last question and this was their response. I'll never truly know why they decided to completely botch my hiring process in the most disrespectful way. /15

The university never comped me my mileage for my 600 mile drive BUT THERE'S A HAPPY ENDING!! I made a great friend in the science department at that school who connected me with people in Buffalo to partner with on super fun science learning video games work!! I made two friends!

But y'all know me-- I wrote a letter to the President of the University highlighting my experience from beginning to end. Here's his response:

So, they don't care, so I don't either. All I have to say is that the housing market in the state capitol of Pennsylvania is super expensive, especially if you want to live close to a non-profit, private, STEM-focused university

If this is illegal let me know & if you're an attorney hit me up.

If they sent me the withdrawal email with this email subject "information regarding maternity leave" is that enough to say that it was illegal lmao

Salaries from their Assistant Professor hires, which was the position I was offered. I was offered 80k base salary. They gave mostly everyone else 95k base salary MINIMUM at hiring. I asked for more. LOOK at this mess. Look at it.