So readers of her blog are not expected to get that those are her opiniions, feelings, etc. and not her employers’? Do you see an employer as having a sort of blanket right to the opinions and ideas of all his or her employees? Is that how it works in your mind?
It’s how I actually, actually!
Yes, because the old people who watch TV news read blogs. Mm-hmmmmm.
When people watch the news they see her not her employers. I see an employer as having blanket right not to employ someone who is actively harming their product in their off time, yes.
Yes, it is a proven fact that Old People do not use the Internet and are oblivious to its content.
Nobody denied her that freedom.
I think that, in the interests of expanding human freedom and discourse, that employers can only claim a right to controlling their employees’ speech while they are on the job. When the woman said “Fuck” on air, that’s legitimate grounds for penalizing her, though I thing firing would be overdoing it … certainly, repeatedly saying “fuck” on air would be grounds for dismissal.
In her free time, she should be free to say whatever she likes about her job, her employer, whatever. I realize that in the increasingly corporate fascist state that is America, this is not likely to work out well for the employee if he or she has any negative opinions about her employer (and really, who does not have such opiniions?). It’s just that unlike you, I think this is not a good thing.
How far would you go? Could she be fired for talking about her employer’s shortcoming to another employee after hours in a bar? To a member of the general public? Should her employer be allowed to monitor what she says in her sleep? Inquiring minds want to know!
I think the list I read must be truncated. Are the funny parts after #10?
Of course not, firing someone for speaking their mind is a little thing, not to be bothered about, hardly a consequence to be considered. You keep believing that, you lovable scamp!
Would you be OK with imprisoning her for speaking her mind?
No. That would be denying her freedom of speech. Why do you deny an employer their freedom to employ who they choose?
If you refused to buy a book by an author after he made openly racist comments, are you are denying him his freedom of speech? Your logic is shit.
I bet the old people who watch local news on TV are one of the least active demographics on the Internet. I will bet of those that DO use the Internet, following blog posts is not common.
I didn’t read her comments on a blog, nor did anyone else in this thread. Your logic is still shit.
Personally, I think its immoral of an employee to say things in a public form (an internet blog, a newspaper article) that could be damaging to the employer. The employer is a business, and most business depend on their reputations to drive revenue. They use the revenue they get to pay their employees, expand the business and hire new employees - and yes, to return profits to owners.
Risking the reputation of the business is something you should get fired for - because you are risking EVERYONE’S job when you do so. Or the ability for the employer to afford to give you a raise.
Free speech may have non-governmental consequences. That’s the station’s right. There’s absolutely no guarantee on consequence-free speech. If you think there is, then you’re infringing on employers’ rights.
Since the TV station doesn’t have that power, I’m not sure how this is relevant.
No, it wouldn’t. She can say anything she likes, she just goes to jail afterward if it’s offensive … you know, like Pussy Riot in Russia. Her freedom of speech is not denied, it just has consequences … just like firing is a consequence of her use of freedom of speech.
I think you meant the freedom to FIRE whomever they like, as I said nothing about hiring practices. The reason I object to her being fired for expressing her opinion is in the interest of broadening human freedom and the public discourse. I think these are fine things, and the right to fire whomever one wants for whatever reason is … not so fine.
Where did I say that? Feel free to point it out.
An impressive display of reasoning by scatology!
You are arguing for consequence-free speech. That would necessarily infringe on the rights of others.
No, I meant exactly what I said. Your opinion denies them their right to employ who they choose. You would force them to employ someone not of their choosing.
You are arguing in favor of consequence-free speech.
Your logic is still shit.
The only reason this came to public attention is that she got fired for her comments, raising freedom of speech issues. And more scatological reasoning!
Cite, please. Surely you don’t believe that blog items never escape the blogosphere. That would be an incredibly stupid thing to think.
I’ve told this story before here, because its illustrative.
Years ago I worked for a certain big Twin Cities based health care company in IT. It was fairly early in my career, I was a systems admin. And one of the guys I worked with was an idiot who didn’t “get” corporate America. It was pretty clear in our employee manual and ethics guide that when talking to the press about the company, you had to get it cleared through corporate communications. He got called by a reporter for one of the trade rags (Info World probably) and they got him to give them a quote regarding a vendor and company strategy. He got fired. And complained all the way out the door about his freedom of speech.
At the time, I don’t think I really understood what a big deal it was - other than it was foolish. And then I started doing IT contract negotiations and vendor management. And, oh my god, he probably cost that company millions. The company he said we wouldn’t dump now knew we had no plans to dump them - and we were negotiating contracts at that time.
That millions meant that later, when the company had a rough spot, they didn’t have those millions in the bank to weather that storm - it was a commitment on the balance sheet. One of the many steps taken to weather the storm was to cut jobs. Another was to cut expenses - so the people who did have jobs didn’t have the tools to do their job. All the contractors - including myself - were walked out the door with a weeks notice. Worked fine for me, I was placed again immediately, but a lot of people ended up out of work for a bit.
I think she has the freedom to say whatever she wants and the employers have the freedom to employ whoever they want. The only one interested in limiting freedoms here is you.