Quick step to the unemployment line.
Not sure why this is difficult for some folks to understand – but your social and political activity can get you fired. Seems a bunch of the alt-right and supremacist trolls didn’t get the message in Charlottesville. Now they are as they lose jobs and respect in their communities.
My first professional job was with IBM. In those days they were pretty clear about their rules of conduct. Any employee who brought negative attention to the company, got their ass terminated. I remember an incident where some fellow employees had a penny Poker game going in a Hotel we stayed in while in training. The local Gendarme raided the game by mistake, looking for a high-stakes illegal game in another room. The players, despite the fact the game was legal, got arrested. Big Blue terminated the two guys whose room the game was in, principally because the raid made the local news. As a group of new hires, we attended a meeting shortly thereafter where we were read the official riot act.
My job posting with IBM was in highly secure locations which required heavy duty Security Clearances. In those day, believe it or not, being a member of the NAACP was cause to be rejected for a clearance (I hid my card), and the NAACP, as well as most Civil Rights Organizations were listed under the category of “Subversive Organization” on the application form. Having friends in foreign countries, including Israel, a strong ally, was considered “risky”. Having spoken at a rally at any of the Civil Rights groups meant your application meant your approval was DOA – especially with the FBI. Fortunately since so little was online in those days you could hide your legal activity.
The neo-nazis and neo-confederates who sparked domestic terrorism in Charlottesville, Va this weekend are learning this lesson. Several have publically been fired – and it appears more are on the way. People have been fired for threatening President Obama and Trump (which is a felony). Being non-politically correct really is no excuse for abusive, sexist, racist, ethnic, illegal, or religious intolerant words designed to hurt other people. I am not sure why some folks don’t get this message, as it seems every day one idiot or another joins the unemployment line for something said on Social Media.
Perhaps in various echo chambers on the left and right people may feel secure by the support they receive for out-of-bounds statements, death threats, or by describing the political opposites in profane or abusive terms. There are sites like Breitbart and the Daily Stormer which allow that. Some of the language on left leaning sites can be pretty raunchy as well.
From the business side, most companies derive revenue from anyone who wants to buy their product. Most are not going to tolerate an employee who expresses opinions indicating either a) the employee is incapable of treating some customers or fellow employees fairly due to bias, of b) the employee’s off job antics makes the company seem unwelcoming to all customers. Companies which don’t do this, are seen as supporting the rabid views of the employee…And may suffer economic consequences.
If you aren’t in Marketing, or just haven’t figured it out yet – Minorities tend to have a much higher level of brand loyalty than the majority population, and are more likely to buy that major brand than an off brand. That means, Minority buyers punch above their population percentage weight in buying name products like Clorox, Coke, and other name brand consumer items.
These companies don’t have active Diversity and outreach projects out of some sort of “misplaced” kindness or “PC”…It is because it is very good for the bottom line.
And the rules get even tougher should you join the executive level.
It is far cheaper, and more profitable to replace your dumb ass than take the hit of a consumer boycott, or loss of corporate image.
A fan of President Donald Trump was recently fired from his job after sending racist messages to comedian Gary Owen.
The Trump supporter, Joseph Lanham, went to see Owen’s show Saturday night in North Naples, Florida. He apparently became upset when Owen started making fun of the president.
Owen told local news outlet Fox 4 Now that the drunk white man started heckling him and loudly shouting racial slurs.
“And at one point I was doing a Trump joke, and he said ‘Yeah, there’s more of us than there is of them.’ And he kept talking, so I kicked him out of my show,” Owen said in an Instagram video. “This is what he sent me on Facebook.”
Owen then showed three racist messages from Lanham, the first of which read: “Your at a n*gga living piece of shit and we are paying for you warefafe loving n*ggers [sic].”
“He send this to me as a message on Facebook… Now everybody knows who you are. Hope your boss sees it if you got a job,” Owen said in his video. “But that $40 you spent on a ticket to see me? I’m going to donate that to the NAACP, you racist f*ck.”
According to NBC 2, Lanham was fired from his job as Vice President of Sales for National Roofing of Collier. His wife was also fired from the same company.
His former boss, Ralph Goddard, said the the racist messages angered him. He also said his company was receiving threats over it.
“I was fearful for my employees to even come in this morning because I didn’t know what to expect,” Goddard said.
Lanham told NBC 2 that he’s not a racist. He blamed his racist behavior on alcohol.
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