http://todaynews.today.com/_news/20...c-sparks-outrage-calls-for-womans-firing?lite Didn't see this posted anywhere yet - apologies if it has and I'm just blind. Anyway, this is the subject of a somewhat heated debate on another forum I post at. Chick is at Arlington National Cemetary, takes a stupid picture and posts it on facebook, it immediately goes viral, online petitions are set up calling for her to be fired. She removes the picture, apologizes, says she meant no harm, her employer suspends her without pay. I'm in the camp that says yeah, it was a dumb and disrespectful thing to do, but she has profusely apologized and appears to regret it, thus the online vigilante campaign is a bit much. The other camp - which appears to be much larger and bipartisan - is outraged at her behavior and believes she deserves everything she gets as a result of this.
On the other hand, she was on a company-paid trip and, if her Facebook page included any employer-related links, she reflects badly on her employer. Me, I would fire her for being stupid. Is Massachusetts an employee-at-will state?
Apparently she has now been fired. And certainly that's well within her employer's rights, and justified, etc. But I look at it this way: if she had taken the picture and shown it around the office, and someone had told the boss, would she still have been fired? I doubt it. Someone went out of their way to form an Internet lynch mob and take her down because she did something careless that they insisted on taking out of context. That's why it came to the employer's attention. I personally think that's worse than what she did (a lame, careless joke that bombed).
If I was her boss, I would have chewed her ass and then left it at that -- and told the internet torches-and-pitchforks crowd to fvck off. Free speech is a right in this country. Ironically enough, it is a right the people buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns died protecting.
Our obsession with death is insatiable. So is America's unhealthly worship of the military. Put them together and this is what you get. My guess is that she was a shitty employee and this was a great excuse to dump her.
My guess is that she was an otherwise fine employee, but the company cannot withstand the b.s. that these 'Merica mobs are putting on them. I work at a Not for Profit, and I can assure you that my board would not have the stomach to stand by employee if their image were reflected on negatively due to this.
My guess is the non-profit she works for is unable to deal with the power of an internet lynch mob, and firing her is the easiest way to make the problem go away. Their phone has probably been ringing off the hook, demanding this horrible Al Qaeda sympathizer be fired...
Young Wall St. hotshot takes a break from doing a line off an underage hooker's ass in Thailand and says "what's the big deal here?
True, but that doesnt mean it doesnt come with consequences for poor judgement. Just because you can say something doesnt mean you should.
Yes, but if said Wall St. hotshot was dumb enough to post a picture of this on his Facebook page, he would probably get fired, don't you think?
I don't think so. Not unless her company has a conduct-unbecoming clause or similar verbiage in the contract. I feel like going to Arlington and making the same photo and posting on my FB page. Though no one would see it since I have only made three posts in 7 years.... Actually, this is just the latest in a long line of condemnations of social media. If you want to act like a twat, and proudly post evidence of your being said twat, well, you're going to get what's coming to you...
If you did this on a company-paid trip, as she did, and the image is reposted and goes viral, you would probably suffer the same fate. Unmourned.
I just checked and Massachusetts is an employment at will state, which means that her employer could fire her if they didn't like the color of her shoes.
Oh my ... the mindless mobs. I think people just wait for the opportunity to make themselves feel righteous and cast shame the inferiors. One middle finger and everyone thinks they've got her all figured out. This all feels like a South Park episode ...
So, if you were her employer, and she posted a photo, showing her giving the finger to your nameplate on your desk, on her Facebook page, and it went viral, and you became the laughingstock boss, you'd just smile, and take no action ... except to feel righteous.
I've never met her so I don't know what I would do if I was her employer. And I'm not second guessing the boss ... I have no way of knowing his reasons and frankly it's none of my business My post was referring to the mindless zombies who never met her and yet are going to such lengths to get her fired. I'm sorry I'm not going to wish anyone to lose their livelihood based on one thing that may offend me but in the big scheme of things doesn't hurt me, doesn't affect me and doesn't hurt anyone else in the world except some people's feelings.
Many of those upset by her actions may not be mindless or zombies, but sincerely upset by her actions. I visited Arlington on my DCU road trip earlier this year, and saw hundreds, if not thousands, of people acting respectfully in the cemetary. If she wanted to be a jerk, she had the opportunity to do so elsewhere. Now, she's exposed nationwide. That's the downside of social media. Just another lessons for the masses.
Trust me I have no pity for people that commit character suicide on social media. Documenting your entire life on social media is yet another mindless activity. As to those zombies I referenced, I'm not talking about people being upset. I'm talking about those people that take their righteousness to the point where they call her employer and try to influence the situation through mob action. Look, if we're going to start a crusade against complete strangers every time someone does something stupid, insulting or despicable we may as well get half the country fired.
I don't understand why anyone who isn't directly - or at least somewhat closely - involved with this woman and her employer really give a rat's ass whether or not she gets fired.
His camera would've been stolen so he'd never have a chance to post. This woman is an idiot but IMO it wasn't disrespecting the military. This country gets butthurt over the stupidest shit today.
If I were her boss, and this was an isolated incident, and that's pretty much all we have to go here, I wouldn't have taken any further action. I don't care what people on the internet think of me. I don't think I'd feel particularly righteous. I just wouldn't care. I have no use for social media, other than an internet message board like this one. None of my employees, all three of them, use social media, but I didn't hire them. Active use of social media would be one of those not-particularly flattering tertiary qualities to add to the prospective candidate's total package.
And if you do post things like this, make sure you don't have your current employer listed right under your name. Can't believe how many people I see posting stupid crap on websites while signed in with their Facebook account complete with employer.