Aliyyah Brown

Dear Mr Powell,

As a (temp) contractor I was assigned to work a few months with Take Two Interactive corporate office. I was there for over four months and always completed my task of work and was a huge support / team player for the company as a front desk consultant. I never gave anyone issues, problems, or made anyone feel uncomfortable around me when i was present because of the color of they're skin, where they were from, or any religious beliefs, I treated everyone as equal. I have been very kind,

and supportive to whomever I worked with or met in the company. Therefore even at some point of being there I was favored. I feel in this situation that I have been treated very unfairly, and this has cause me mental distress because I know i didn't deserve this at all.

I shouldn't be judged by what i choose to put on my body which i consider a freedom of speech of my own belief, but I should've been judged by my character . I never made anyone feel uncomfortable around me no matter what race they were, so the fact someone would accuse me and would actually believe that I would put something on my body and walk around boldly with something that represents "hate" is appalling to me. When I first started with the Take Two Interactive in May, I was approached about my tattoo's from my executive that hired me. She sat down with me during lunch and respectfully asked me about it, i told her my truth about my spiritual beliefs and how it's a Hindu sign. I explained to her the positive meanings and the history behind it, because before it was ever marked as a "hatred" sign it was a very positive symbol which is why the swastika is a very a ancient symbol. After me and the executive spoke she was very understanding about it and I never had issue with anyone in the office in regards to my tattoo's ever since. Yes people had saw it but no one really cared that much to mark it as a threat or problem, yes I was asked about it but not that much because once again no one really cared due to the fact I was kind and respectful to everyone. The woman who falsely accused me and went to H.R about my tattoo didn't like me ever since i started with the company. For some reason i always knew she never liked me at all to begin with and I always felt jealousy from her. If i was to say hello to her she would give me these strange and rude looks, and she would never say hello back. Then she showed her true colors at the "end of summer" corporate party, this is how the issue had all started. I was at the party talking with everyone and this woman by the name of Porsha who falsely accuse me of having a "hate" tattoo had approached me sloppy drunk and so aggressively saying to me " is that a swastika on your hand?!" and she said it very loud so everyone could hear her as if she was maliciously trying to throw me in a negative light in front of everyone. She said to everyone " look what she has on her hand!! " so drunk and loud that everyone got upset with her and walked away looking at her strangely. Even though i was being verbally attacked, i still responded kindly to her and told her the meaning behind it. Even after the fact I explained to her the positive meaning behind it, she was still trying so hard to convince herself and everyone around that i was lying. You can tell she felt very embarrassed after all of that yelling she was doing because no one cared, so she walked off looking confused and even more upset as if she knew her secret motive to make me look bad in front of everyone didn't work in her favor. So she took it even more far and made sure she went to H.R about this the following next day. Porsha is a black woman, so i feel the fact that she's a black woman speaking on another black woman spiritual beliefs to H.R gives them confirmation that " oh she must right about this." I feel the company was also trying to make me feel through this situation that the fact that I am a black woman it's impossible for me to be a buddist. Which i feel in this situation there is definitely some racism going on, and them lying saying that i said "believe in peace" when asked about beliefs I never ever said that. Whenever I am asked about my tattoo I fully explained my spiritual beliefs because i always felt the need to teach others. It's clear as day in this situation the fact someone had lack of knowledge, it not only caused me my job but the peron really tried to make me look like a bad person and i have never been through this before in regards to my tattoo's with any other corporate companies i worked with in the past. Nor have i ever felt the need to explain to any company about my religious or spiritual beliefs when i start a new job because i feel that's personal, but if anyone ever asked me i always spoke my peace. I feel this situation could've been handle differently as well due to the fact my tattoo is very tiny on my hand and behind my ear, so if they would've asked me to cover it with makeup I would have not had a issue with doing that at all.