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SendGrid Fires Employee After Firestorm Over Inappropriate Jokes
tsamsoniw writes "Hoping to strike a blow against sexism in the tech industry , developer and tech evangelist Adria Richards took to Twitter to complain about two male developers swapping purportedly offensive jokes at PyCon. The decision has set into motion a chain of events that illustrate the impact a tweet or two can make in this age of social networking: One the developers and Richards have since lost their jobs, and even the chair of PyCon has been harassed for his minor role in the incident."
Attitudes like yours -- that it's ok to make sexual jokes when you are on the job, working around other people, and anybody who has a problem with it is a horrible, humorless person -- are exactly what's wrong in the industry.
These guys lost their jobs because of joking about the word dongle, something that every geek on the face of the planet has joked about.
Believe it or not, I haven't! At least, not when I'm in public or representing my employer in any fashion. I am capable of controlling the words that come out of my mouth, and so I refrain from making sexual jokes. I am still capable of having fun and making jokes in other ways. Restraining myself does not turn my life into a miserable pit of boredom, it just means that I'm not offending or alienating people while simultaneously giving my employer a bad name.
Don't think men with families they struggle to pay to feed their kids, and keep medical insurance don't secretly wonder if the female next to one of these females, and leave them out of the loop because of it. This is what causes the truly nasty life changing, paycheck shrinking discrimination, not stupid jokes.
Well, maybe they should learn to act professional when they're in a professional environment. The IT world does not need people who can't work unless they act like they're still in high school or like their job is some sort of good old boys' club.
I wouldn't hire this wretch in a million years, I don't care if she is the most brilliant python developer in the world.
And you can look forward to an employment discrimination lawsuit for that.
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
His employer overreacted, not her. Not everyone wants to confront a group of guys in public, especially when their attitude towards women is known to be bad.
I can only assume this is not the only reason he was fired. Maybe he is just a dick in general.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
"Drama queen" - really? Are you saying she is just a stupid, emotional woman?
This always happens on Slashdot. Maybe she overreacted. Either way there is no need to belittle her actions because of her gender.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
You are correct. Despite her gender, Adria was being a dick.
Right. If men can be bitches and cunts, women sure can be dicks and pricks. Or have balls, for that matter.
That we can use the terms about either gender now shows that we have some progress in sexual equality, and less of a reason to take sexual offense now than a generation or two ago.