I got fired for the DU hate mail

I printed it out for a co-worker to see the crap that is sent in.
My supervisor saw him reading it and asked who gave it to him.
I said I did, and when I got home tonite I got the call "don't come in tomorrow".

She stood there and lied to me, I asked if I was coming in tomorrow and she said the big boss was reviewing it.
I apologized and told her that I didn't write it, and that it was a joke.
The guy who I gave it to is pissed, as HE told her that it was none of her business.
I am trying to get my job back, but I don't have high hopes.
I was doing an excellent job, with lots of emails from the customers to that effect.
Stay tuned...

Wishing for the best for you :hug:

No joke. We have a very diverse mix of people, but just this week we have a new "manager" who wears a Bush/Cheney lapel on his suit. Since we're in New York, a lot of us wore flag pins after 911, Democrats and Republicans, conservative and liberal.

But management has never openly shilled for Bush before.

Shove it right in their pasty faces. $7, I can't put a picture in here because they've got right-click shut off.

http://www.kerryhq.com/

I work in a corporate environment in NYC and I cannot imagine anyone wearing that kind of a button, for either side.

this guy just shows up out of the blue. He knows the top level executives but none of the middle managers nor the regular employees. I have no idea what's going on.

and they have tremendous PRIDE in all those dumbass titles for donors like Pioneers, Assholes, and Filthy Rich :wtf:

Send the big Boss to the site to prove you didn't write it.

bastards

I hope that you get your job back I am so sorry to hear that you lost it.

On what cause? Printing something for personal use?

I think you can fight this.

that's one thing. But if he printed it out on his work computer during company time, that's a different story and the company is, legally, within its rights to do what it did.

I went through this one nearly 15 years ago...a person was using their computer (nothing more than a fancy word processor in those days) to write all sorts of commentaries about people around the office. He'd stash them on his own disks (or so he said), and claimed he wrote them on his own time. This was in "the day" when only geeks had home computers.

One day his "disk" got around to the wrong hands and the shit hit the fan. They fired him on "other grounds" (he'd run up other "violations" of company policy...amazing how those always come up AFTER you're canned). When he attempted to file for unemployment, THEN the puter issue came up. The company claimed he used company property imporperly to hurt the business and do so against "company policy". Since the company owned the puter, he was SOL and lost his case.

I'm always leery when I read a first posting here...as the emotion and the reaction is the intention, not the facts. Methinks our fired friend has more to this story he/she isn't sharing. Regardless, sounds like a place not worth working for and better to know it sooner than later...hopefully another job is not that far away.

I am getting over the stunned phase and I am a bit angry now.

I mean, have you EVER heard of someone being fired for printing ONE SHEET of paper for personal use in an office? I think a lawyer may be over the top in response, but a call to the Labor Board is certainly in order. What a bunch of thugs they are! Perhaps they figure it's against the rules because it was circulating hate mail? They need to look at their inner office emails, and see how much NON biz crap is being sent on company time.

If the company is consistent with that policy. If it always fires everybody who at any time ever uses a computer to print something non-work-related, then they'd have cause. If, however, they have let people print out recipes, jokes, or pro-Bush literature, then it would be clear that this guy was fired with discrimination.

you can be fired for the color of the shirt you wear. Minnesota, for instance, is an 'at will' state, and employers can fire you for no reason at all. This is supposedly 'balanced' by the fact that you don't have to give notice when you quit. Which isn't a balance at all, of course. Big business and Repukes love this law.

In many at-will states (as Oklahoma), it is wrongful termination if a person is fired for a reason that is against public policy.

"Against public policy" depends on what state case law you can drag up to support your argument for a particular case.

It probably would not be a stretch to find state case law supporting the proposition that it is against public policy to fire a person for their individual political beliefs. Otherwise, a huge employer could fire every democrat and do harm to a lot of families in a state.

I call it "their right to fuck you"

RC

exactly the opposite of what it means, very right wing

as many are "right-to-work". Right-to-work laws (mostly in Southern states) prevent collective bargaining agreements from mandating employees to pay union dues or an agency fee as a condition of employment. Of course, under Federal law the union must represent everyone under the contract, whether you pay dues or not-- so you end up in scenarios with freeloaders taking all the union protections and paying no dues or agency fee.

In a so-called right to work state, you don't have to join the union if you work in a union shop. At will employment describes other employment situations in which there is no contract in place and either party has the right to terminate the employment relationship at any time for any lawful reason. What is a lawful reason varies by state.

if they don't like what side you part your hair on.

RC

I think a lawyer would love that case.

Do you really want to work in such a repressive environment?

but if you printed it out at work using a work computer they're within their rights to do what they did, as lousy as it was and as horrible as it is to lose your job (I've been laid off for six weeks now with no job in sight, so I know how that goes).

If you printed it out at home and brought it in, that's a different story; but work computers are for WORK and companies are legally within their rights to suspend or fire you for using work computers for internet surfing, sending personal email on company time, and other non-work-related functions. You're supposed to be working during work time, not web surfing on company time.

I had a co-worker who was caught web-surfing on company time; the only thing that saved him was that, first, it was a small company and the boss didn't want to have to pay to train someone else, and second, the boss himself surfed porn sites on his own work computer during work time and everyone knew it, so he really didn't have much of the moral high ground, so to speak.

MANY companies are spending tens of thousands, if not much more, to add in tons of content filters to web surfing, e-mail, and probably voice phones in the future as well. Even basic keywords will alert administrators and management and they will monster all web sites accessed.

This isn't a free country, to say the very least.

If we want to live in the world that is being created for us by corporate americans, then we need to conform. It's as simple as that.

This is why TCPA and Microsoft will prevail in corporate america. They are actively touting this nazi shit, down to the last binary digit. Hell, smaller than that. Down to the last nybble.

So. Either live in it until you have a nervous breakdown and/or stroke, or do the alternative thing and become what will be seen by those in power as being a terrorist. That's what those in power are doing. This is not a free country.

It's up to we, the people, to decide the future.

Sorry about your job loss. But if they have nothing in writing then you've got some hope. You'd better pursue that route and QUICK.

the right to do that as long as you're using a company computer on company time. Company time is for WORK, not fooling around for personal reasons on the company computer.

For surfing a porn site. I always ate lunch at my desk. The one day I ate out all month someone used my 'puter to surf a porn site. By 1:30 that afternoon they had drawn up my walking papers.

What saved me? I kept the fast food reciept with the date/time stamp to compare against the IP log.

The next day they layed about 20 of us off for lack of work. I was the highest paid employee on the floor, Fuckers didn't want to pay my unemployment.

:mad: :nuke:

if it's a first offense, simply printing something out from the internet should result in a warning, a conference, and an official notation in the personnel file. Not firing. There are procedures for that type of firing.. just firing on the spot. There has to be a warning phase, but most companies are too ignorant of the rules. The Labor Board, assuming this happened in a normal STate, can sort it out.

Maybe, with all the people across the country in the DU, we can put you in touch with some head-hunters in your area and field.

Since DiverDave is a DUer, you know that he's smart and good at what he does. She'll be sorry she let him go.

What's your company's policy towards personal web surfing/IT use on company time?

If there's nothing on it in writing, you should be in the clear.

And, yes, there is a no surfing policy.
The culture there is, um, loose, to say the least.
I am (was?) a contract employee and she called the company I was working for and told them that I wasn't working there anymore.
I have been uncomfortable several times with the stuff that is said/done there, and was told that if I didn't like that sort of raunchy stuff, that I would have to get used to it.

I spoke to a close friend of the head of the department and he offered his help to smooth it over.
I declined, as I thought that it was no big deal.
I am going to call him tomorrow and take him up on his offer.
I was wrong, I stood up and admitted as much to her.
She lied to my face when she said that it was in the hands of her boss.
She is a tough person to figure out.
When the guy who trained me gave me his home phone so I could call if I needed help, she found out I had called him and tore me a new asshole for "bothering him".
Like I said, this ain't over...

Don't stop.

If you lose, at least you'll have tried.

Good luck.

...why the hell do browsers WORK? Is it that difficult to block port 80 or allow only e-mail or something?

If you comment about the football game last night with the guy next cubicle you get fired too?

I strongly smell "fired for leftism" here.

Do you work for a private corp or for the gov't?

What state are you in?

Do you have all your manuals you got when you were hired?

It is scary to think we have people in this country that write such things. Frankly it is not fit to send out so they may have a point if they think you wrote it. Make sure they know you did not write it.

I surf DU about 7.5 hours of my 8 hour day. I work in a midsize company of about 500 people but I only work with one other person - she's from Canada so I don't mind telling her what I think, though she is married to a wingnut racist. I have been warned in writing a couple of times for web surfing but I say fuck it. People at work literally download bootlegged movies and watch or burn them there. They use Websense so I'm sure my "file" reads like a book. But it's all DU or the couple of times I hop over to Yahoo to check mail. It doesn't affect my work so I think they don't really care and my boss isn't a Nazi. Others have been fired for less.

BTW, what do you mean by raunchy? Is it a porn site - I'd think they'd be all against Asskkkroft and Bushivek regime?

Edir -- good luck getting your gig back or finding a new one! Come on down to Florida, it's actually one of the better job economies, and we need every dem we can get!! :grouphug:

flipping burgers would be better than working for those fasicsts!

you were doing something personal on work time?

I do the DU thing sometimes at work for a few minutes at a time, but I shouldn't. Am going to try to stop. (I usu. just read a few posts w/o responding.) These blogs are addictive.

What did you print out that was so terrible. It sounds like second grade and passing notes and you got sent home from school. What a bunch of wankers. This won't do much for employee morale, that's for sure.

Links to the hate mail are there. It's hate mail from freepers. So as you can imagine, the spelling is almost as offensive as the sentiments expressed.

I have the number for the customer whose account I have been working on.
She is such a nice person (AND sick of * and his policy's)
I will get her to call and, hopefully, tell them that I MUST be on the monitoring team.
I feel real good about this, thanks to all of you.
And, madinmaryland, let me get my res. updated.
I am in New Castle, DE. and have a great gas saver of a car.

pretty much guarantees that people from your work are reading this thread. You know? I would consider that when posting.

FUCK DiggerDave's FORMER boss!

there's a time and a place for inflammatory freeper type speech, right?:evilgrin:

your own. Work it out or not. Keep your contacts just in case. Never, ever get a client involved!! 9 times out of 10, you lose.

Sorry.

I was once fired from a fine dinning restraunt for complaining about the rampant nepotism. My regulars found out about it, three who spend about a grand a month there wrote letters to the GM and told him if I wasn't going to be waiting on them, they would take there business to the place I would be. I was brought back the next day.

Money talks, bullshit walks.

RC

Sometimes it's necessary, and it has been in my own case.

Sorry for your loss. Hope you find something better working with people who value free speech.

you can also legally do everything you can to destroy his business...employment is at will...that applies to employers and employees...do everything you can to steal clients and fuck with him...there ain't a goddamn thing he can do.

Employment may not be at-will if:

1. You are covered by a collective bargaining agreement (union contract)

2. You have an individual employment contract

3. You had some sort of implied or express oral agreement with your boss that you would have a guarantee of emplyment as long as you did your job (but if you signed an at-will waiver at the time of your employment, this goes out the window)

4. You live in Montana (only state in US that has a law prohibiting employer termination of employees absent "just cause"}

person's arrangements...but I will admit I was assuming a lot, although post # 14 left little for me to assume. Most IT jobs have no collective bargaining component.

I'd hate for Dave to end up a defendant in a lawsuit!

In Texas, if he screws with the employer's customers or vice versa, there is a potential claim for tortious interference with existing business relations or contracts. There is also a cause of action in Texas for tortious interference with *prospective* contracts even. He might want to check the laws of his state before taking any action like that.


That said, he is probably still eligible for unemployment compensation- if he acts correctly. Since he is a temp, he probably has to check back with the temp/contract agency for work or else he will be deemed to have voluntarily quit, and that typically disqualifies employees from unemployment benefits. It usually isn't enough that the customer of the temp agency fired him to qualify- the temp agency also has to refuse to place him again.

I surf the net often for 75% of the work day when things are slow.

People download movies and are on IM all day long. Personal e-mails are the norm. This is in the video game business, so maybe it's different.

All I know, is that I would never work for a company that pulled that shit. Corporations ask for a huge chunk of your life (at least games companies do) - They damn well better let me maintain the minimal contact I have with the outside world while I'm there.

when they don't.

If they require me to be in an office 40 hours a week and can only drum up 15 hours worth of work (at the rate I accomplish things) then I say what I do with the other 25 hours is my own damn business.

Of course, it won't hold up in court.

She has upset almost everyone there, at one time or another.
The other folks that I talked to say they will stand up to her over this.

I will get my chance to present my side of the story.

I feel absolutely blind-sided by this.

Stay tuned...

You don't have to be a member of a union to be protected. If reading e-mail is common and sharing jokes etc... happens as a daily occurance there then they don't have a right to fire you because they don't like the content.
The hate mail column on DU is not illegal or pornographic.

have to have a good reason. It is illegal to fire someone for:

1. Issuing a complaint about violations of the law.
2. Refusing to work in immediately hazardous conditions.
3. Race, religion, nationality, age, gender, disability (and in some states sexual orientation)
4. Union activity or affiliation.

Other than that stuff, in every state except Montana, unless you are covered under an employment contract, you can be fired for any reason. If you're a Democrat, your boss is Republican and he doesn't like your political views, you can be fired. Employment and labor law sucks in this country-- just try getting the few already on the books enforced.

you also. You should be smarter than that.

.. unless you live in a backward State, you cannot just fire someone like that. There are procedures, unless there is a physical threat, or theft, etc. If a company does not want to be sued for unlawful termination, they have steps to take. The first being a discussion and warning.. signed by the employee, it's put in the personnel file. I think you get one more warning, on the third, you're fired. There has to be a documented pattern of offense, acknowledgement of the offense, and the warnings, then they can fire without worrying about a lawsuit or Labor Board action.

WHat the poster did would merit no more than a talking to, or a written warning in the file. Firing on the spot if this is the first offense? You're asking for legal trouble.

If you read my post, I gave it to ONE co-worker...Geez.

I do hope you're in one with good labor laws. This type of incident should merit no more than a slap on the wrist and a warning in your file. Sounds like a pretty heavy handed operation if the supervisor was reading the paper you gave to someone else... If your State has a Labor Board, do call them and see if this is unlawful termination. Unfortunately, as some posters have pointed out, there are States here where have no required procedures for firing.

Good luck. I hope you can resolve this.

That changes everything. I hope your company can send you out on a new position, then. They won't want to jeopardize a client relationship over this... even though you wouldn't have been fired over that as a regular employee, I'm guessing.

Best of luck, I hope something really wonderful materializes for you now.

I will be rooting for you also. Hopefully things will work out.

Gawd, sometimes I would just love to spit in some of these effin hypocrits faces. The sups just above the job I have now are former Union so they know better(we cover each others butt). I have dumped so many jobs because of this type of crap that I am proud of it. I don't think anybody should take stuff from their employers. They can have all the rules they want, but when stuff gets personal. You need to draw the line.

If he was in a Union that probably would have never happened.

http://www.eefi.org/0303/030313.htm
RIGHTS OF THE WAGE EARNERS


I. THE SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL REVOLUTION AND THE XXIST CENTURY
So we are witnessing nowadays, again in spite of the clamorous failures of the model neoliberal, to a process of REGRESSION of main RIGHTS OF THE WAGE EARNERS, the unprotection of the work and salary, which major examples are the LABOUR” in THIRD LINE”, THE SERVICES, where there is practised a variable of MODERN SLAVERY of the work and the salary in the full XXIst century, where the wages vary between 2 $ to 4$ daily dollars and the days of work are between 12 and 14 daily hours for the above mentioned wages, and all without labour stability, or collective negotiation, and no social benefit, that is to say slavery in the full XXIst century. It cannot continue, and we cannot continue accepting it.

This situation in the case of Latin America is increasingly critical and humiliating. Inhuman and immoral, the horizon becomes more critical by the North American project of Integration of the UNIQUE MARKET called AFTA (Area of Free Trade of the Americas) where the Latin American countries and the wage earners only will be more part of the system of MAQUILA that favours the North American industrial –militar to annexe all Latin America.

The wage earners and the Latin Amercian people not only we have above the AFTA, but also the implementation of ITS military force of occupation and so called interventionism” COLOMBIA PLAN”, which we denounce in this world event to all the worker s and request them immediate solidarity. So we ratify our contest for the WORLD PEACE, we push back the WAR that is proper to the NEOLIBERALISM that the current North American government stimulates. The Wage earners and Peoples of Latin America and the world have the right to the peace and dignified life.

We push back, in name of the WORLD PEACE, the WAR OF ROBBERY that threatens to the MIDDLE EAST. We cannot see impassively the warmongering and genocidal action of the North American imperialism. The peoples of IRAN, IRAQ,PALESTINE, the wage earners, workers and peoples of the Middle East need our solidarity and mobilisation for the world peace, the sovereignty and the self –determination of the peoples.

WE SAY TO THEM : NO THE WAR POLITICY AND OF NORTH AMERICAN AGGRESSION!

SOLIDARITY AND WORLD PEACE, WITH THE PEOPLES AND WAGE EARNERS OF THE WORLD!

III. PROPOSAL FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE WAGE EARNERS
(snip)