“Once we start looking the other way because the we don’t approve of the guy who got fired and he’s not the kind of guy we’d want to work with, it won’t be long before guys we like who share our opinions and persuations start getting fired for saying what we believe. How long before we start reading about people losing their jobs because of support for Traditional Marriage, for instance?”
I agree that that’s a danger, but in some cases it’s already happening. Thinking of the examples I’ve heard of, that’s been going on for awhile.
“I’m not defending the guy. I think he’s a complete creep and worse. But I still don’t like or approve of this trend of firing people for Socual Media postings. we should be free to express our opinions, on our own time, without fear of losing our jobs.”
Every form of communication before the internet carries responsibility, though, and the internet should be no exception. It’s wrong to punish people for their political views, no matter the form, and that should be fought against. But it’s also wrong not to hold people accountable because of the type of communication. In many cases, social media is used to falsely accuse people, and rush to judgment on the guilt or innocence of someone, but there are cases like this also, where this particular man used social media in a way that was clearly wrong. And from his defenses of what he did, in which he is apparently not being truthful (he tells the story like he didn’t have any power to remove the photo once he posted it and racist remarks began, which is untrue), it shows that his employer has made the right call.
Why be on Facebook if so called friends can embarrass you? Get off and stick to email.