Sacked for comments on social media

[stui magpie]

I thought we used to have a thread about this but, WTF time for a new one.

The people who held the engagement party at the weekend have copped a lot of stick for their behaviour, a lot of it deserved but this isn't.

[David]

We can quibble over whether extreme cases of hate speech like this justify losing your job, but the broader problem is the precedent it sets and the principle it upholds. If you fundamentally oppose employers policing what you say or do off the job then you can’t make an exception for a particularly abhorrent or anti-Semitic remark on Facebook. So yeah, sorry, can’t agree with this.

We need to find a way of responding to people who hold and express vile opinions without running to their employers at the first opportunity and asking them to enact some kind of justice on our behalf. The problem isn’t being outraged and angered by the post; it’s thinking that the RMH have any business dealing with it.

[think positive]

oh whoa, that is truly a horrible thing to say.

dont agree with sacking them but name and shame them everywhere, that is not acceptable.

[David]

I don’t know if this woman is a rabid anti-Semite or just posted something dumb without thinking, but this story makes me think of a not entirely unrelated issue.

I’ve been seeing stuff on Facebook in recent days about Melbourne Neo-Nazis being "outed" (the latest being some singer in a Melbourne punk band), with the aim being to get them fired from workplaces and ostracised in general. A lot of energy goes into that kind of thing in some sections of the left (i.e. Antifa types and fellow travellers), but I have to admit I’m somewhat sceptical. Firstly, I take it for granted that there are people out there with all kinds of kooky views, some of them more benign than others and some more socially acceptable than others. Yes, the views of bigots and conspiracy theory peddlers should be challenged, but you can’t eradicate stupidity.

Secondly, as a committed leftist myself, I just don’t know that I see it as my primary political goal to chase people with really bad views out of town; if anything, it kind of seems like a distraction to me. Racism is a thing that primarily manifests through societal structures, and that’s how it tends to negatively impact people’s lives – not because some maladjusted weirdo without any social power thinks Hitler was a cool guy. So it seems to me to be a bit of an easy/lazy target compared to, say, actually winning broad public support for an anti-racist left-wing political program. And that’s putting to one side the question of whether pointing out and ostracising individual right-wing extremists actually serves the stated goal, which is to prevent Neo-Nazis from becoming more powerful as a political force. I think there’s every chance it sends them underground and makes them stronger, better connected, and more energised by a politics of resentment and perceived victimisation. Let’s not forget that Hitler wrote Mein Kampf in jail.

[stui magpie]

[ronrat]

I would have thought that hospitals would need every clinical assistants they could get at the moment. Surely a reprimand was warranted but if the twits hadn't put the event on facebook in the first place they wouldn't have drawn the reactions.

I am waiting for lawsuits to start up about loss of business and reputation etc. It might make people think twice if they start losing homes etc.

The 2 Doctors who were at the event may be in strife as well

[What'sinaname]

[swoop42]

When I first heard of this story I was wondering whether it was a case of anti zionism being labelled anti semitic as some in the Jewish community are prone to do to shut down any legitimate criticism or debate about the government of Israel.

In this instance though what the person stated was about as insensitive as it can get and it shouldn't come as any surprise that this specific type of employer has taken this action once notified of it.

What I do hope though is that the employer now shows a level of consistency if other employees are found being blatantly racist against other minorities on public forums.

[stui magpie]

@David, I tend to agree with what you say. This cancel culture seems mostly a product of the left and the focus on employers to penalise people for expressing unpopular or downright wrong views.

In this day and age, people should be fully aware that if they post controversial stuff under their real name on social media, there can be consequences. Organisations are gun shy about their brand and being being associated with improper stuff.

In this case, if RMH didn't sack this person there would have been a pile on to them, people saying they condone anti semitisim etc etc.