UM employee in trouble for pro-LSU tweets

[DawgatAuburn]

http://thedmonline.com/um-physical-plant-director-deals-with-social-media-incident/

That letter is awful. Some guys tweets have reached the senior level of the administration?? Don't they have other things to worry about? And a tweet makes you question his ability to make sound a wise decisions? A TWEET does that??? And the communications guy doesn't make it any better. Some random physical plant guy is disrupting the TEAM?? and the fans? Do the Bear fans follow the physical plant employees? If so, I need to step up my following game. Does team check twitter between plays? Sometimes a face to face conversation with an employee is what's needed to address what you view as a problem, not a letter to your entire division when they aren't doing anything wrong. You get the point across to the one who was screwing up, and trust me, the rest will know about it.

 

[DerHntr]

This is just stupid. Wait for the guy to come to work on Monday and talk to him specifically about tweeting while he is supposed to be on the job and nothing else. How in the world can he disrupt the team or fans by tweeting during the game? Are the players checking twitter during the game or at half time? Are the fans going to stop cheering because one random dude is rooting for LSU but works for OM?

Considering OM is known for journalism, they sure do their best to end free speech and control the message.

 

[futaba.79]

Might I add.........

that the poorly worded letter, produced on University letterhead, brings into question the competence of the UM Physical Plant Director.

 

[drt7891]

Queue TSUNBearHunter in 5... 4... 3...

 

[jakldawg]

Apparently it's not the "pro-LSU" part they have a problem with

just the "tweeting while on the job" part is problematic (riiiiiiiight). So if he had sent out a torrent of pro-Ole Miss Tweets during the game, they'd still get a version of this letter?
Love this part:

while the university will never tell its employees whom they can or cannot cheer for

... go on....

there is an expectation to support Ole Miss while on the clock

...and they just contradicted themselves.

I believe the saying is "Sorry, Ashton, 7 bucks an hour doesn't buy my undivided attention."

From the letter, it sounds like he also might be in trouble for wearing LSU gear or something?

Did they have to flash the Bias Incident Response Team signal for this one?

And I'm amazed something similar hasn't happened at one of our games with the Tide bandwagon at full capacity.
(but still put me on the record as saying that publicly rooting for one of your employer's arch-rivals is a TOTAL dick move.)

 

[jakldawg]

You know how universities are.
Obviously the Physical Plant guy was feeling some heat from the people above him, so he has to show how "on top of it" he is, and you can't just have a one-on-one conversation like normal people, and they were past the point where this could have been discussed at the next (shudder) department-wide meeting; noooooo, you have to come up with some super-official letter so it's physically "on record" that the issue "has been dealt with."

 

[DawgatAuburn]

That's a pretty accurate assessment of the response flow.

 

[Shmuley]

I'm thinking somebody just onion'd the DM ala C34.

 

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

I would like to see the employee's follow-up letter. "Dear EEOC..."

 

[willi13]

"Bless his heart." - Hugh Freeze

 

[Master Blaster]

When I was a graduate TA at State I was told not to wear OM t-shirts to class.

I'm sure that was an isolated incident, though. The people's university would never allow such censorship. Y'all must be bored as hell if you're really talking about this two days before you play Carolina.

 

[RebelAlumnus]

Because they couldn't justify it at all. He would lose that every day...

of the week and you know it. EEOC? Hilarious. Here's a tip: Don't tweet about how much more you like a direct competitor while on the job. Dumb people make dumb decisions.

 

[jakldawg]

See? Without some fancy University letterhead

with the message cc:'d to your major professor, graduate chair, the department head, dean, and who knows who else, this is all just hearsay.

 

[OzarkaNSW]

what is a Carolina?

 

[512taylor]

I'm sure that was an isolated incident, though. The people's university would never allow such censorship. Y'all must be bored as hell if you're really talking about this two days before you play Carolina.

Bored? ............and you're on here reading it?

 

[SkullCandy.sixpack]

They pretty much had to make it a general letter to all employees, or they would have been accused of singling him out just because he was a corndog. Most workplaces have rules against using social media while on the clock (second offense here, and you're history) but again--the rule would have to be consistently applied. We also reserve the right to discipline (including termination of) an employee for comments negative to the image of the company, even if they were posted while off-work. My kids junior high school can suspend your for comments negative to the school. To us, it's a support your school/team issue, but if you work for the school??? Mississippi is a right to work state-- you serve at the "pleasure" of your employer. They aren't pleased...

Even though their intent may well have been to shut down one guy, by informing the whole department, they've totally avoided any chance the EEOC, ACLU etc would get involved. Though LSU and Bama fans support does (nearly) reach the intensity of religion, I don't think this is exactly a violation of Federal anti-discrimination law.

Frankly, I'm with jakl--what kind of dumb *** attacks his own employer while he's still on the clock?

 

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

A state service employee.

When it's a state employee, it's a whole 'nother ball game. Will and pleasure of employer doesn't apply. I wonder if this particular policy has been approved by the state personnel board...

And whether there is an actual violation or not has little to do with the EEOC issuing a right to sue, which the employer has to defend. Or settle. Not saying that's right, but it is what it is.

 

[TheOMlawdog]

http://thedmonline.com/um-physical-plant-director-deals-with-social-media-incident/

That letter is awful. Some guys tweets have reached the senior level of the administration?? Don't they have other things to worry about? And a tweet makes you question his ability to make sound a wise decisions? A TWEET does that??? And the communications guy doesn't make it any better. Some random physical plant guy is disrupting the TEAM?? and the fans? Do the Bear fans follow the physical plant employees? If so, I need to step up my following game. Does team check twitter between plays? Sometimes a face to face conversation with an employee is what's needed to address what you view as a problem, not a letter to your entire division when they aren't doing anything wrong. You get the point across to the one who was screwing up, and trust me, the rest will know about it.

He just better be glad he that he works for OM and not Bama - Saban would have his **** in the parking lot before lunch.

I would be all for them firing him. He has every right to tweet about how great LSU is, just like Ole Miss would have every right to fire him because they don't like it. I love freedom. After getting fired he can follow his dream and go work at LSU if they are hiring, think how much happier his life would be? In reality they would be doing him a huge favor by firing him.

 

[SkullCandy.sixpack]

Wouldn't suing a government institution be far more difficult due to sovereign immunity? They'd have to consent to allow the suit to go forward, correct? I'm sure the state has a policy against using social media during work hours, so it would come down to "discrimination" for being a corndog, right?

 

[RocketDawg]

He just better be glad he that he works for OM and not Bama - Saban would have his **** in the parking lot before lunch.

I would be all for them firing him. He has every right to tweet about how great LSU is, just like Ole Miss would have every right to fire him because they don't like it. I love freedom. After getting fired he can follow his dream and go work at LSU if they are hiring, think how much happier his life would be? In reality they would be doing him a huge favor by firing him.

I disagree with you, and would say the same had the incident occurred at MSU. The guy has the right to support whatever team he wants to. I suppose they could get him for personal use of a university-owned computer (or phone, or tablet) if that's the case, and could chastise him for doing it on the job, if he did. It doesn't say what his job is ... but was he even supposed to be at the game anyway? Was going to the game part of his job?

I can understand the "not wearing athletic gear" if the PPD employees are required to wear a uniform? Does he have to wear one?

Just sounds hypersensitive by the school to me, and probably illegal for them to try to discipline the guy for something that's not important. They can't dictate which team their employees support, unless it was a condition of employment and in their job description in the first place.

 

[PBRME]

Is this not a case of conflict of interest? It would be no different than Coke employees tweeting in support of Pepsi over Coke, or Lowe's employees supporting Home Depot.

 

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

You don't have to win to get $$. And you don't have to have a "valid" claim to sue someone.