GrubHub CEO Matt Maloney sent an email to employees stating his disappointment with Donald Trump’s win and telling employees that if they agree with Trump’s “hateful politics” they should “reply to this email with your resignationbecause you have no place here. We do not tolerate hateful attitudes on our team.”
Specifically, here’s what Maloney doesn’t like about Trump’s views:
…I absolutely reject the nationalist, anti-immigrant and hateful politics of Donald Trump and will work to shield our community from this movement as best as I can. As we all try to understand what this vote means to us, I want to affirm to anyone on our team that is scared or feels personally exposed, that I and everyone else here at Grubhub will fight for your dignity and your right to make a better life for yourself and your family here in the United States.
To keep reading, click here: No, You can’t force people to resign for supporting Trump
Um, something appears to be missing from this post….you’ve provided the background to the GrubHub story, but where’s the lesson to be learned? I was hoping for some legalities or some verbage to explain to my ignorant friends why you can’t force someone to resign for a political belief. There’s no “read more” link. The post just kind of….stops.
Ooops. Sorry. It’s added.
http://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/no-you-cant-fire-people-for-voting-trump.html
He didn’t say you should resign for voting for Trump, he said you should do it if you agree with his “hateful politics.” Huge difference, since — reportedly — a lot of Trump voters claim they disagree with many of his hateful statements and positions.
Would not a vote for a candidate at least imply agreement with those politics? I means, since you’ve separated politics from statements/positions (but aren’t politics a reflection of one’s positions? And aren’t statements needed to articulate a position?)
The way it comes across to this reasonable person is the CEO is equating a vote for Trump with agreement for Trumps politics and you should resign. At the very least the CEO has created an hostile work environment for any employees that voted for Trump.
In the first paragraph you said his email said “if you agree with his hateful politics reply to this email with your resignation because you have no place here. We do not tolerate hateful attitudes on our team.” You’re right – this is shocking. Which hateful politics? Look, I am totally floored by this election, and I agree with everything he said politically, but yeah, this is not an email to send out in the workplace. This could have been handled in such a different way, without making people feel like their job is in jeopardy because they voted a certain way. What an idiot for basically taking hate for one group and putting it on hate for another because of the way they voted. Not sure election politics should every affect anyone’s job, unless they work in politics…. But our votes are secret and should remain that way. May people (including me) are already afraid about their civil rights – this obviously just makes things worse. Reiterating a policy of nondiscrimination and “non-hate” in the workplace is good, but this was handled very badly.
In the first paragraph you said his email said “if you agree with his hateful politics reply to this email with your resignation because you have no place here. We do not tolerate hateful attitudes on our team.” You’re right – this is shocking. Which hateful politics? Look, I am totally floored by this election, and I agree with everything he said politically, but yeah, this is not an email to send out in the workplace. This could have been handled in such a different way, without making people feel like their job is in jeopardy because they voted a certain way. What an idiot for basically taking hate for one group and putting it on hate for another because of the way they voted. Not sure election politics should every affect anyone’s job, unless they work in politics…. But our votes are secret and should remain that way. May people (including me) are already afraid about their civil rights – this obviously just makes things worse. Reiterating a policy of nondiscrimination and “non-hate” in the workplace is good, but this was handled very badly.
Actually, the headline is at odds with the article, because except in a handful of states, you CAN terminate employees for their political beliefs, as there is not a specific anti-retaliation provision for that particular category under state law (and there is no federal law). In the absence of specific protections under state law or a union or employment contract, employment-at-will prevails and there would be no grounds to challenge the termination for that reason. For more information, see http://www.workplacefairness.org/retaliation-political-activity for a summary of what laws exist, and if you think you have a potential claim on this basis, consult an attorney in your state. [Grub Hub is in California, which has some of the strongest protections, so the CEO might not be able to do it, but as noted in the article, he’s already walked it back some anyway.]
I agree with the Evil HR Lady that it’s an appalling idea. It’s unfair and morally wrong in my opinion, but that applies to many things employers do in the workplace when union and civil service protections are minimal and most employees are subject to employment-at-will.