Washington Post fires reporter Felicia Somnez who objected to misogynistic tweets

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

"Insubordinate". Yet she persisted... I don't know about your workplace, but I wouldn't want to work somewhere that let a guy tweet like that about women.

They didn't "let" him - he took down the post, apologized, and was suspended for a month without pay. Some people seem to be demanding a really disproportionate response to this.

And fine - don't work there! She got her wishes as far as that's concerned.

He did those things because he was called out for a sexist tweet, not because he realized it was wrong.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. Within half an hour (I think) of the RT, he saw the objections, took it down, and apologized - and still faced a serious punishment. I'm not sure how that constitutes "letting" him do anything other than make amends for what he came to recognize was a moment of poor judgment.

Again: He's not a guy with some record of bad behavior toward women where you'd be like, oh sure there goes THAT guy again, slap on the wrist after a major offense. It was a minor offense, and he lost a month of pay over it - plus public humiliation and rebuke. How much punishment do you want for him? What would be enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

"Insubordinate". Yet she persisted... I don't know about your workplace, but I wouldn't want to work somewhere that let a guy tweet like that about women.

They didn't "let" him - he took down the post, apologized, and was suspended for a month without pay. Some people seem to be demanding a really disproportionate response to this.

And fine - don't work there! She got her wishes as far as that's concerned.

He did those things because he was called out for a sexist tweet, not because he realized it was wrong.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. Within half an hour (I think) of the RT, he saw the objections, took it down, and apologized - and still faced a serious punishment. I'm not sure how that constitutes "letting" him do anything other than make amends for what he came to recognize was a moment of poor judgment.

Again: He's not a guy with some record of bad behavior toward women where you'd be like, oh sure there goes THAT guy again, slap on the wrist after a major offense. It was a minor offense, and he lost a month of pay over it - plus public humiliation and rebuke. How much punishment do you want for him? What would be enough?

+1 Also he wasn’t just some reporter to her - they shared a byline as recently as a month ago and he stuck up for her regarding her earlier disagreements with the Post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this is the right outcome.

He should not have retweeted that stupid joke, but let’s keep things in perspective. Retweeting is a pretty minor thing that has very little to do with his job and he apologized for it. He should have apologized for it, but that should have been the end of it.

She was probably even fine pointing it out once on Twitter but really should have just pointed it out to him privately and maybe to the HR department if he didn’t immediately remove it. Everything after that was harassment on her part. Her response should have been in line with the nature of the offense. Demanding that a person get fired over a minor offense and then continuing to harass him publicly over something that should be an internal HR issue was grounds for her getting fired. None of us is perfect and we do not want to live in a world where silly minor things are blown up to be career-ending scandals.

This

[Anonymous]

I’m a feminist but I don’t know how to reconcile toxic masculinity in the workplace. I’m unwilling to sacrifice my career to point out some dumb man doesn’t have the sense/class enough to think about what he says in a public forum. Most workplaces side with men. Men have such tremendous privilege.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Interesting that this dude’s friends seem to have found this thread and don’t get that BOTH reporters look dumb here, and THE POST looks dumb. It’s embarrassing that she was using Twitter to go scorched earth; it’s embarrassing that he was using his professional account to tweet dumb “women be crazy” day jokes in 2022; it’s frustrating and depressing that ALL of “elite media twitter” can’t see how their use of twitter undermines their work and creates these meaningless echo chambers.
She had the firing coming and it’s good the Post is rid of her. But all the other things here are still true too.

+1 This.

+2

Twitter is problematic for journalists.

+3 twitter has been so awful for journalists and they do themselves in by their own hand. Truly depressing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

Agree with another PP that is is the best summary of the issue, and that the Post’s actions in firing her were entirely appropriate. She gave them no choice.

I do find it bizarre that some posters are minimizing Weigel’s retweet, though. That was not a “dad joke,” nor was it “corny.” It was extremely sexist and offensive, and if you think it’s funny, you need to ask yourself why. If this is the only time Weigel has done something like this, then I think the apology plus one-month suspension without pay is an appropriate disciplinary action. But I hope the Post has put him on notice that he’ll be fired if there are subsequent tweets or retweets like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

Agree with another PP that is is the best summary of the issue, and that the Post’s actions in firing her were entirely appropriate. She gave them no choice.

I do find it bizarre that some posters are minimizing Weigel’s retweet, though. That was not a “dad joke,” nor was it “corny.” It was extremely sexist and offensive, and if you think it’s funny, you need to ask yourself why. If this is the only time Weigel has done something like this, then I think the apology plus one-month suspension without pay is an appropriate disciplinary action. But I hope the Post has put him on notice that he’ll be fired if there are subsequent tweets or retweets like this.

I think getting suspended without pay for a month is sufficient "notice," and I'm guessing that it also comes with some sort of probationary period when he returns. He probably understands the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

Agree with another PP that is is the best summary of the issue, and that the Post’s actions in firing her were entirely appropriate. She gave them no choice.

I do find it bizarre that some posters are minimizing Weigel’s retweet, though. That was not a “dad joke,” nor was it “corny.” It was extremely sexist and offensive, and if you think it’s funny, you need to ask yourself why. If this is the only time Weigel has done something like this, then I think the apology plus one-month suspension without pay is an appropriate disciplinary action. But I hope the Post has put him on notice that he’ll be fired if there are subsequent tweets or retweets like this.

I think getting suspended without pay for a month is sufficient "notice," and I'm guessing that it also comes with some sort of probationary period when he returns. He probably understands the situation.

Unlike Felicia, who repeatedly was told to stop doing something and repeatedly ignored those orders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a feminist but I don’t know how to reconcile toxic masculinity in the workplace. I’m unwilling to sacrifice my career to point out some dumb man doesn’t have the sense/class enough to think about what he says in a public forum. Most workplaces side with men. Men have such tremendous privilege.

This is not what happened. For those in the cheap seats, she was *not* fired for objecting to Weigel's tweet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

"Insubordinate". Yet she persisted... I don't know about your workplace, but I wouldn't want to work somewhere that let a guy tweet like that about women.

That tweet was lame, at best. If you get offended by weak crap like that, then I can’t imagine how you would be at a work happy hour.

The tweets and that he felt ok posting it says a lot about the workplace culture at WaPo. He knew he would ok.

+1

Honestly it’s a pretty clear indication of the type of abhorrent behavior that the Post tolerates from men. I would not want to work there as a woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

Agree with another PP that is is the best summary of the issue, and that the Post’s actions in firing her were entirely appropriate. She gave them no choice.

I do find it bizarre that some posters are minimizing Weigel’s retweet, though. That was not a “dad joke,” nor was it “corny.” It was extremely sexist and offensive, and if you think it’s funny, you need to ask yourself why. If this is the only time Weigel has done something like this, then I think the apology plus one-month suspension without pay is an appropriate disciplinary action. But I hope the Post has put him on notice that he’ll be fired if there are subsequent tweets or retweets like this.

I agree with this.

The posters who are minimizing the tweet are actually making the Post look a lot worse, not better. They sound incredibly clueless, and defensive in a very out of touch way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

"Insubordinate". Yet she persisted... I don't know about your workplace, but I wouldn't want to work somewhere that let a guy tweet like that about women.

That tweet was lame, at best. If you get offended by weak crap like that, then I can’t imagine how you would be at a work happy hour.

The tweets and that he felt ok posting it says a lot about the workplace culture at WaPo. He knew he would ok.

+1

Honestly it’s a pretty clear indication of the type of abhorrent behavior that the Post tolerates from men. I would not want to work there as a woman.

Ummm he got suspended without pay for a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

Agree with another PP that is is the best summary of the issue, and that the Post’s actions in firing her were entirely appropriate. She gave them no choice.

I do find it bizarre that some posters are minimizing Weigel’s retweet, though. That was not a “dad joke,” nor was it “corny.” It was extremely sexist and offensive, and if you think it’s funny, you need to ask yourself why. If this is the only time Weigel has done something like this, then I think the apology plus one-month suspension without pay is an appropriate disciplinary action. But I hope the Post has put him on notice that he’ll be fired if there are subsequent tweets or retweets like this.

I agree with this.

The posters who are minimizing the tweet are actually making the Post look a lot worse, not better. They sound incredibly clueless, and defensive in a very out of touch way.

His tweet was absolutely wrong. AFAIK, it was his first offense, which is why he was suspended w/o pay for a month, rather than fired.

Sonmez was not fired for objecting to the tweet. She was fired for continuing a pattern of questionable behavior on social media after being told in no uncertain terms to stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

Agree with another PP that is is the best summary of the issue, and that the Post’s actions in firing her were entirely appropriate. She gave them no choice.

I do find it bizarre that some posters are minimizing Weigel’s retweet, though. That was not a “dad joke,” nor was it “corny.” It was extremely sexist and offensive, and if you think it’s funny, you need to ask yourself why. If this is the only time Weigel has done something like this, then I think the apology plus one-month suspension without pay is an appropriate disciplinary action. But I hope the Post has put him on notice that he’ll be fired if there are subsequent tweets or retweets like this.

I agree with this.

The posters who are minimizing the tweet are actually making the Post look a lot worse, not better. They sound incredibly clueless, and defensive in a very out of touch way.

Offensive is if he said “eff women. They belong in the kitchen. They can’t think and are all dumb.”

But his tweet was a really bad dad joke, at best. That’s a stupid joke that even my mom would make during dinner, people would just moan, and it’d be forgotten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She acted crazy on Twitter. Coworkers shouldn’t be blasted online like that.

Um, you mean like the guy who wrote that all women are bipolar or bisexual? That guy who still has a job at the WaPo?

He got reprimanded, suspended, didn’t he? Did you want him to get fired for a stupid tweet?

You mean like she got fired for pointing out he made a stupid (misogynistic to be more accurate) tweet that insulted half of his coworkers? Collegiality my butt.

He literally didn’t make the tweet. And it was a bad dad joke that most sane people didn’t even care about.

Ok Wiegel. He shared the tweet. If I had done that in a public forum, my place of work would have fired him. And the dads I know don't talk about women in that way.

It's Weigel, not Wiegel. You work at a different place. He's not a dad.

The guy apologized, instantly, and was suspended without pay for a month. He is a good reporter who is usually goofy but not offensive on Twitter. I really don't see the possible justification for punishing him worse than this, over such a dumb thing.

I don't get why this poster is calling this a dad joke. Dad jokes are puns or corny humor. They're not insulting to half the population. Dads have daughters too.

I think maybe we are just going to disagree over how offensive the tweet was. I thought it was stupid, and offensive, but not burn it all down bad. I thought Weigel responded appropriately with his apology - and that a month's suspension without pay seemed extreme, but ok. You clearly see it as much worse than I did, and than many other people did. But there's a lot of you, too, so I have to acknowledge that as well.

I don't know. This whole thing just seemed to spiral out of control in a pretty crazy way.

I think you're used to a permissive work culture. I think many companies would have fired staff over that tweet--social media policies govern staff behavior and you're not supposed to do things publicly that make you/your employer look bad. Which is why I think it's awful that they fired the lady reporter...saying she had been criticizing other staff (i.e. making the WaPo look bad).

She was insubordinate. He wasn't. I think this is pretty clear. The workplace had devolved into chaos, and she kept making it worse - and they would never have any control whatsoever if she didn't face consequences.

I've worked places with permissive social media cultures and some without (I am freelance now but my last full time job forbade us from posting anything about politics at all on our personal social media, because we worked with a lot of lawmakers on both sides and it was thought that this could hurt our ability to do that if we expressed any thoughts about policies - that one was hard to abide during the Trump years, let me tell you).

Agree with another PP that is is the best summary of the issue, and that the Post’s actions in firing her were entirely appropriate. She gave them no choice.

I do find it bizarre that some posters are minimizing Weigel’s retweet, though. That was not a “dad joke,” nor was it “corny.” It was extremely sexist and offensive, and if you think it’s funny, you need to ask yourself why. If this is the only time Weigel has done something like this, then I think the apology plus one-month suspension without pay is an appropriate disciplinary action. But I hope the Post has put him on notice that he’ll be fired if there are subsequent tweets or retweets like this.

I agree with this.

The posters who are minimizing the tweet are actually making the Post look a lot worse, not better. They sound incredibly clueless, and defensive in a very out of touch way.

Offensive is if he said “eff women. They belong in the kitchen. They can’t think and are all dumb.”

But his tweet was a really bad dad joke, at best. That’s a stupid joke that even my mom would make during dinner, people would just moan, and it’d be forgotten.

Exactly. Have some sense of proportionality, everyone. Gd help you if you ever make a stupid joke.