Employees Fired After Forwarding (Racist Joke) Obama E-Mail

[RamboLiberal]

PITTSBURGH -- Lawsuits were filed against the Centers for Rehab Services by two employees who were fired over an e-mail comparing President Barack Obama to a tar ball washing ashore in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company said the e-mail was inappropriate, but the employees said they were just expressing their political views and were wrongfully fired.

Team 4 investigator Paul Van Osdol reported that the e-mail in question was circulated last summer while the federal government was trying to contain the massive Gulf oil spill.

It showed an image of Obama walking along a Gulf beach with the caption, "Another tar ball washed up on the shore."

http://www.wtae.com/news/26780068/detail.html

Stupid and racist, but I don't think they should've been fired. If my employer fired everyone here who receives/sends this kind of crap half the company would be gone including many managers & salespeople. Yeah, I work with a lot of RW'ers.

[madmom]

1. Depends, was it on company time on company computer? There was a

big shake up not to long ago at our local auto plant about e-mails being circulated, on company time & computer. Several people got fired including salary personnel.

[Empowerer]

3. It also depends on the nature of their jobs

If bigoted attitudes are inconsistent with the requirements of their jobs - not to mention likely to put the employer in a bad light - firing is appropriate.

[patrice]

2. Whose email account? nt

[JuniperLea]

4. It sets up a hostile work environment...

In CA, you'd be fired. I've had to counsel a managing director to put the kibosh on his anti-Obama rhetoric several times. We have a very young, and very progressive staff here and the heavy sighs and eye rolling was getting on my nerves. "Harry, go to your office!" is all I have to say now and he snickers all the way there. I've started keeping a list of his comments... my favorite so far is, "Unlike Obama, Dick Cheney doesn't hate gay people." Yeah, you go with that, Harry.

You can't have religious or political items at your desk where they may be seen by others either. I like it. It saved me a lot of grief, and probably a lot of hair, during the BushCo years.

[liberal N proud]

5. If it was company email or even company PC

The company had every obligation to take action against the senders of the message.

Two things everyone must remember when they are sending non business email.
- One, it is not your system and you have to play by their rules.
- Two, what may not be offensive to you just might be to the receiver and that is what matters.

[we can do it]

6. On Company Time and Email (Letterhead)? Fire the Bastards

I just got an email full of repub lies on bank letterhead about bs tax on home sales because of obamacare (how dnse is that for a mortgage officer???)-

another liberal friend contacted her manager about it asking for her to be fired.........

[yellowcanine]

7. Employers have the right to set boundaries on how work email is used.

I suspect that this did not come out of the blue. These employees likely knew full well what the policy was and chose to ignore it. They got caught. Too bad for them. And sorry guys - you don't get to "express your political views" on company time and equipment.

[LiberalFighter]

8. Pennsylvania is an at-will employment as most states.

As long as the firing does not violate state or federal law the employer can fire anyone for any reason or no reason.

Using company computer and time is generally considered theft of company property. Also, sexual or racial material of any kind the company has a duty to prevent such behavior.

Vic Walczak, the ACLU's legal director in Pennsylvania, said employees have "very few" rights to sound off at work.

Walczak said he had not seen the lawsuits, but he said the Constitutional right to free speech does not apply when someone uses a workplace computer.


A spokeswoman for UPMC -- which is affiliated with Centers for Rehab Services -- did not comment on the lawsuit but said that UPMC has a long-standing zero-tolerance policy for e-mails that are racially, sexually or otherwise offensive.

[rasputin1952]

9. Society changes, (fortunately), and such items are (rightfully)...

viewed with disdain.

These individuals are pretty callous to be working in a Rehab Center, where, I would think at least some of their clientele are AA. You learn a lot about people from instances like this. I would be wondering if everyone that came through the door was treated with the same respect every human being deserves.

Regardless of the job though, I don't care if they were working off the back of a garbage truck or in food court or anywhere else, if they do not have the courtesy to treat everyone they come in contact with equally and with dignity, it's their tough luck if they are fired.

If they did this from their homes, I'd be simply disgusted, but on the job is another story, it gets into a trust issue, I would not want people like this working for me; racism is racism, it's despicable, no matter who has it, or where it comes from.

[Jennicut]

10. Email at at place of an employment should not be treated as your home email.

It is work, not home. I tried to never have inappropriate crap on my computer emails when I worked at a call center. I mean, can people somehow manage to leave that stuff at home or are people so addicted to their technology that they can't handle being cut off a few hours a day. At least use your cell phone for personal email then.

[EC]

11. It's against our company rules to even

post or send personal email from company computers

[HipChick]

12. if you want to send that crap and too dumb to use gmail on your own time

you deserve to be fired..

[Number23]

14. +1 million. Interesting that the OP or anyone would think that sending racist

(or any type of "ist") e-mails from a work computer during work hours is not an offense worthy of being fired.

[wisteria]

13. These types of e-mails are not appropriate for work in my opinion.

The rules were clear, I hate to see someone losing a job, but they were getting paid to work, not pass along poltical e-mails.

[Uzybone]

15. you must be kidding right?

You don't think they should have been fired?

[Arkana]

16. I'm glad these dicknuts are getting fired rather than just reprimanded.

[agentS]

17. If I were the boss, I would block any email site other than corporate

that would prevent some of these work e-mail chain letter disasters.
I say 'some' because there's always the idiot that sends crap on the company email and then wonders why he's in trouble.