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Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

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Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#121

Post by _o0rc »

snicker7 wrote: post #73

At this point, companies might as well just have an explicit policy of not hiring anyone registered as a Republican. Party affiliation is not a protected class, after all.

As pointed out below, there are some states where politics are protected. I looked it up because I do plan to use that information in hiring decisions going forward.

I wouldn't surprised if I get downvoted for this, but I intend to ask anyone I interview in the future (not currently in a role that involves hiring) if they voted for Trump in 2020. And a yes will be a disqualifying answer on the basis of poor judgement. (It's also a question I will be asking any potential employer I interview with, going forward, for the same reason.)

Yes, I will lose some diversity of thought as a result. Yes it means I can't hire employees in California. Yes, there will be potential bad PR. No, I won't feel guilty about it at all. And yes, I will also run it by appropriate lawyers before actually implementing it.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#122

Post by paganel »

mhh__ wrote: post #94
snicker7 wrote: post #73

At this point, companies might as well just have an explicit policy of not hiring anyone registered as a Republican. Party affiliation is not a protected class, after all.

What percentage of Republicans are the stereotype Parler user? If you were a rabid QAnon nut, why should I hire you? Saying republican is this context is just driving the wedge in too far.

You shouldn’t know and especially shouldn’t care if your prospective employee is “a rabid QAnon nut” or a crazy Bukharin-loving anarchist.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#123

Post by JohnBooty »

mandragon wrote: post #3

Was the agent fired for writing something specifically, or simply for signing up for these networks?

That's what I'm wondering.

I signed up for a Parler account when it first opened, just for a bit of curiosity and research. Found it to be a total cesspool, never posted anything.

People should be judged for the actual opinions they express, when taken in the context of the totality of their character. But I definitely wouldn't support the shunning of somebody simply for signing up for a free service.

Heck, as a software developer and one who dabbles in activism, I've signed up for way "worse" sites than Parler. Waaaaaaay worse.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#124

Post by guntars »

common_crow wrote: post #10

Reminds me of Dawn Frederick, a literary agent who was "cancelled" for calling 911 on looters who rammed a van into the gas station on her apartment block: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/p... This happened during the BLM protests this summer in St. Loius. The looters she reported were blocks away from any BLM protest, and other looting bands were setting fires on nearby blocks. Frederick w…

From that story, it doesn’t seem like calling 911 was the problem. It was tweeting about it.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#125

Post by ThrustVectoring »

_o0rc wrote: post #121
snicker7 wrote: post #73

At this point, companies might as well just have an explicit policy of not hiring anyone registered as a Republican. Party affiliation is not a protected class, after all.

As pointed out below, there are some states where politics are protected. I looked it up because I do plan to use that information in hiring decisions going forward. I wouldn't surprised if I get downvoted for this, but I intend to ask anyone I interview in the future (not currently in a role that involves hiring) if they voted for Trump in 2020. And a yes will be a disqualifying answer on the basis of poor judgement…

For what it's worth, as an engineering candidate being asked that question would disqualify the asking company from consideration. I do not want to work at a company that is so politically active that the question is allowed. I would also tell my point of contact exactly why I was withdrawing my candidacy and who was responsible.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#127

Post by JohnBooty »

LocalH wrote: post #33
TeaDrunk wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the article it appears she signed up and actively encouraged others to join as well explicitly for the lack of censorship. "In a November 12 tweet, Oefelein invited followers to join her on the conservative social network, which she described as "a great platform with no censorship." Oefelein suggested earlier this month that she may also use the far-right social networking site Gab." The fired agent als…

Should people lose their jobs for being Christian, conservative, and the slightest bit vocal?

Hard no. If she was literally fired for the social media equivalent of wearing a cross or having a Trump bumper sticker? If so, I think we would agree that's wrong.

However there's quite possibly a lot more to it than that.

Christianity is not inherently evil but (like all major religious texts) the Bible uh... lends itself to multiple interpretations, to put it mildly.

Surely we can agree that a lot of heinous behavior over the years has been justified by the perpetrators in the name of religion. I'm sure those folks felt they were presecuted "just for following their religion" as well.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#128

Post by neartheplain »

filmgirlcw wrote: post #106
neartheplain wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another for your list: Jordanian-American woman gets her publishing deal canceled for tweeting about a rude DC Metro employee, because the Metro employee was black. https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2019/05/11/dc-...

I’m very much against people being fired for their social media posts (unless we’re crossing way over a line that delves into calls for violence or is doing something illegal), but that situation was a bit more complicated. That author, who was PR professional and verified on Twitter, was using her account and her blue-checkmark to shame a worker on a train for eating on her break. She literally tried to get that emp…

You’ve gone and assumed the worst. “Trying to get that employee fired?” I just don’t see it. Anyway, the Metro employees union would never go for it.

The no-eating rule is a fairly big deal on Metro. A twelve-year-old girl was famously arrested for eating a single French fry [0], in a case (Hedgepeth v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) that went all the way to the U.S. Court of Appeals, where the arrest was upheld. A teenager was arrested in 2016 for carrying chips and snacks into a Metro station [1]. If I saw an employee flouting this rule, I’d be indignant too. I wouldn’t have posted a photo of the person, but the kind of vitriol, racism, and naked hate this novelist faced in response to her tweet was totally unwarranted. The potential for negative consequences on the part of the Metro employee was greatly exaggerated.

[0] https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=94999&page=1

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/met...

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#129

Post by JohnBooty »

djanogo wrote: post #17
ubermonkey wrote: post #9

[flagged]

So she installed 2 apps, which has millions of people on it and lets them discuss diverse topics, and you associate her with nazi's? How did the intelligence/reasoning of people fall so low that they are so blinded by their political association?

If she was fired merely for installing those apps, that's a problem.

If she was fired for things she actually expressed, that's potentially reasonable.

Surely we can agree there are views so odious that they would make a public-facing career infeasible. We might not agree on what those views are but I'm sure we can agree on the possibility that they exist.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#130

Post by dguaraglia »

filmgirlcw wrote: post #106
neartheplain wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another for your list: Jordanian-American woman gets her publishing deal canceled for tweeting about a rude DC Metro employee, because the Metro employee was black. https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2019/05/11/dc-...

I’m very much against people being fired for their social media posts (unless we’re crossing way over a line that delves into calls for violence or is doing something illegal), but that situation was a bit more complicated. That author, who was PR professional and verified on Twitter, was using her account and her blue-checkmark to shame a worker on a train for eating on her break. She literally tried to get that emp…

Oh, get out of here with your nuanced and fair analysis! Don't you realize we just want reasons to be outraged about the 'cancel culture'?
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