Why should interviews be fface to face? We now have instant m$essenger , so people can chat via text. If applicants were given a number, not a race, sex or physoical appearance, an employer would be forced to look at qualifications and nothing else.
Because like it or not, face-to-face matters a great deal.
It does depending on the line of work. Being in sales, acting or m$odeling. But what about jobs with far less interaction? At what pint does emphasis on physical presentation become doiscriminatory?
Abeercrrombie and Fitch has a "look policy" that was under controversy. A Muslim employee was fired for wearing a head scarf. Was she right to sue them?
I'm not talking about just physical appearance, I'm talking about how you conduct yourself when with other people. If you are to meet customers and I want to hire you, that's going to be very important. Yes, I know, spazzes may not have the advantage here and life isn't fair, but it's important.
If you are an in-house developer (speaking strictly of what I know), all that is less important, but it's not unimportant either. If I was to hire a person for that line of work, I'd be more interested in his or her ability to work in a team. In addition to the actual qualifications, obviously.
And I can't comment on whether that person was in right in suing. I don't know the facts. The media will most likely give a rather one-sided view of it, though. It's simply how these things work.