It's been a day or so and nope, we still can't wrap our head around why GitHub would fire someone for saying Nazis were storming the US Capitol
- Reference: 1610589133
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/01/14/github_slack_nazi/
- Source link:
The unnamed staffer sent the message on an internal Slack channel last Wednesday, and was reportedly challenged by another employee who criticized him for using divisive language, sparking a battle of words.
[1]
The issue was escalated to human resources, who reprimanded the employee for using the word “Nazi.” Then, two days later, last Friday, he was fired with GitHub citing "patterns of behavior," according to a [2]report by Business Insider earlier.
Those details have not been contested by the source-code management powerhouse but the fact that the employee is Jewish and that GitHub’s own CEO had also pointed out that there were neo-Nazis at the Capitol riot (which there were) raised serious questions over the treatment of the staffer, and led to internal outcry and a petition signed by 200 or more employees demanding answers to the firing.
[3]
Both GitHub’s CEO and COO have responded, promising that the Microsoft-owned biz is looking into the issue and will “take any and all appropriate action following a thorough investigation.” But with no other information forthcoming, questions are again being raised about the code-hosting giant, and Silicon Valley's lack of tolerance for anything that doesn’t fit with the overwhelmingly White male, and also Christian, culture that pervades the industry.
Facial recog biz denies its software identified 'antifa members' among mob that stormed Capitol Hill [4]READ MORE
The internal petition asked GitHub for a stronger approach against antisemitism and White supremacy, and argued that it didn’t feel like a safe place to work.
Toxic
The axed employee, meanwhile, has given his version of events, including copies of internal messages. “I did not know that, as a Jew, it would be so polarizing to say this word,” he wrote in a Slack group for Jewish employees, it was reported. "We grew up saying [Nazi]. It was a story we told because we had to – the decimation of whole lines of ancestry were at the hands of people who went by that title.” He also said he wouldn't work in the tech industry again thanks to its "toxic" culture.
Taken at face value, the original warning shared on the internal Slack workspace, “stay safe homies, Nazis are about,” complete with sad emoji, is obviously not grounds for firing someone, especially given the extraordinary events of last week.
That he was apparently fired for “patterns of behavior,” which some suggest is deliberately vaguely incriminating, and that he is Jewish, are the sort of details that spark speculation yet are likely to have little to do with the actual reason to fire him.
GitHub has not committed to making the results of its internal investigation public and it has so far failed to respond to a number of our questions aimed at understanding the situation better while respecting the employee’s privacy.
[5]
One thing is clear, however: the tech industry, once the darling of the world, has a major problem with how it is perceived by anyone who doesn’t look and act like Mark Zuckerberg. ®
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[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-github-backlash-jewish-employee-termination-2021-1
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Cue the lawsuit in 3, 2, 1...
If the ex employee can show that the claims of behavior patterns is utter bollocks, show that his employer knew of his religious beliefs prior to the firing, then show that they were fired after said comment, the lawyers fighting for said ex employee may just wind up earning themselves a few million dollars for their pain & suffering. The ex employee might get enough to pay for a Starbucks cuppa swill but not much more.
As usual
Microsoft gonna Microsoft.
The problem
I can't speak to me specifics of the case. If there is an antisemitic problem within Github the EEOC or the courts can speak to it.
However the words used trouble me. There were quite probably people best described as Nazis or Klansmen involved in the storming of the Capitol. But the majority were not.
We've heard this before from those describing Black Lives Matter protestors as looters. Certainly there were some but the majority were not. Or calling Mexicans rapists when only a small percentage of them are.
Words have power and neither the right or the left should feel that they have the privilege to use them in attack mode.
A good book for the time is Sir Terry's Jingo. Or, at least listen to Elvis Costello's (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding.
Peace
Re: The problem
"The majority" were there to protest a perfectly legitimate, free and fair election. The State officials (of both parties) have said so, almost sixty judges have said so. It is a pure fiction that the election was stolen, a fiction turned into a successful grift by our horrible outgoing Prez. They were there on the basis of repeated lies and vicious, idiotic allegations that the lawyers would not dare repeat in court where they would actually have to prove them. The date was deliberately picked to interfere with the concluding formality of that election. To pressure Congress into changing its mind.
I have no sympathy for the "good people" who showed up to support such BS.
And do NOT create false equivalencies between BLM who protests actual murders by cops, actual violent acts caught on tape that everyone can see, and a cult of personality believing in unproven and unprovable nonsense that Trump pulled out of his ass to assuage his pathetic ego.
Re: The problem
I don't know if "Most of them were just there because they wanted to overturn the results of an election" is the exculpation you're looking for, but have at it.
...but maybe don't drag Pterry into this?
Re: Elvis Costello's (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding.
Actually written by Nick Lowe in the Brinsley Schwarz days, but any publicity is good publicity, right? Even if it's fake news, or includes misleading atttribution ???? ;)
Thanks for the mention anyway, it's a grand tune:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy3LpV0THB0
or there's this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szAMOyTe1IY
or there's this one quite recently (May 2020):
https://www.nme.com/news/music/watch-sharon-van-etten-and-josh-hommes-home-video-for-whats-so-funny-bout-peace-love-and-understanding-cover-2672687
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(What%27s_So_Funny_%27Bout)_Peace,_Love,_and_Understanding
"Words have power and neither the right or the left should feel that they have the privilege to use them in attack mode."
Facts and knowledge can have power too :)
Shoot now, ask questions later
take any and all appropriate action following before a thorough investigation
Dear Microsoft HR,
FTFY, TYVM and Covfefe.
This needs more research
A certain segment of US society seem awfully thin-skinned.
Maybe a prolonged diet of liberal tears is detrimental to the thickness of your skin?