Firings - Political correctness gone too far?

[John Ho]

A bunch of friends of mine got fired yesterday from the firm I used to work at (portfolio management for high net worth clients) for "inappropriate use of email."

Basically what they did was sneak over to someone's computer when he wasn't there and sent an email to another male employee like "You are looking really good these days. Need a workout partner stud?" Not the smartest thing to do. But evidently someone complained and they were fired for gay sexual harassment. This may be the first time in history 5 very heterosexual guys were fired for sexually harassing men. One of them was fired for also referring to marijuana in one of his emails to another employee(all their emails got read after the complaint).

They were never given a warning. Just fired. And a few of these guys had put in LONG hours at this company and were in fairly high positions considering their ages (mid 20s) Truly boneheaded of them but is this a reason to get fired?

I think it's fear of litigation and PC gone too far.

[IrishHand]

I'd have fired them. That rises to a level of stupidity inconsistent with what I'd want in my employees.

PS. They weren't fired for "gay sexual harassment" - they were fired for "sexual harassment." Its definition encompasses all sexual orientations. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[MMMMMM]

A few guys can't even play a harmless joke without some pansy whining to the teacher, and the principal expels them;-)

I guess all these PC-type folks who want to make rules for everybody else never heard the old saying: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me."

Michael Savage might be right after all.

[MMMMMM]

If it had been a pattern of harassment that would be one thing, but a single incident as described that certainly seemed to be a joke (bad taste and poor judgment, yes)...but I mean jeez, a joke's a joke...the PC-Nazis these days are really going too far...

[andyfox]

I'd have fired them instantly. The gay aspect of it is irrelevant. Sending a phony email with the intent of making it appear that someone is sexually interested in another person at the company is unacceptable, no matter how many hours they put in. To paraphrase one of our hosts, someone who would think this is OK must have other brain leaks as well that make their job performance less than optimal.

[John Ho]

One might think that. But all these guys were high achievers at the company and quickly promoted through the ranks.

I definitely see the point of firing them though. Pretty silly of them to do that.

[John Ho]

They sent out a lot of those emails. They were fired when someone eventually complained. It's probably safe to say they had it coming.

[MMMMMM]

I think the aspect most disturbing is that they used another's email without permission--the bad taste joke aspect of it isn't so terrible IMO, and if it had been just one incident (which John Ho now says it wasn't) then I can't see how it could be really considered sexual harassment--I mean it's OBVIOUSLY a joke, unless there are other ongoing aspects to it.

If someone did that to me I would be quite mad they used my email, but I would think the joke aspect miles away from being sexual harassment. So if they got fired for unauthorized use of others' email I think that could possibly be appropriate, but if they got fired for sexual harassment I think it's a crock.

[adios]

You didn't say much about the guy they sent it to. Given that many organizations have been successfully sued for sexual harasssment, it's not surprising at all. Companies aren't going to be the least bit tolerant of any kind of sexual harassment nor should they be expected to.

[John Cole]

I already wonder what set of special skills, then, it requires to become a low achiever at this firm given the rather dubious actions of these high achievers.

John