Friday, December 11, 2009



Must not criticize homosexual marriage promoters in Maine

We read:
"A longtime newspaper reporter says he was unjustly fired after writing a personal e-mail to gay marriage supporters rebuking their tactics.

The Portland Newspaper Guild has filed a grievance on behalf of 58-year-old Larry Grard, who says he was fired Nov. 10 from the Morning Sentinel in Waterville. Grard sent an e-mail to the Human Rights Campaign the day after Maine voters repealed a law that would have allowed gay couples to wed.

Grard said he was offended that the organization claimed gay marriage opponents used hate and said it was supporters who were being hateful. A worker who saw the e-mail complained to the paper.

Grard said his lapse in judgment shouldn't warrant dismissal.

Source

Lapse in judgment to state obvious facts?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's very simple. If his company has an Email and Internet Use Policy (which all companies should have, by the way) that defines personal use of company resources and consequences for abuse, then the company was within their rights to fire him. If not, then let a judge figure it out. Also, if he's in an "at will" state, the company can certainly fire him.

Anonymous said...

It's a hateful thing to complain to an employer about someone's email to them. It doesn't even state that he opposed them on the overall issue, only that he didn't like how they characterized their opponents.

It's a true leftist who will charge their opponents with crimes they themselves commit, in this case unreasoning hatred.

Also the story noted that it was a "personal" email that was sent which would imply that he sent it from a personal email account and not his employer's.

Anonymous said...

Another example of the "tolerance" the Left "claims" to have. While they fight for free speech, it's only their own that they respect.

Bobby said...

I agree with 12:32 AM, when you write from a company e-mail you're representing the company.

Also, he is a reporter, his job is to ask questions, not to give answers.

Anonymous said...

His lapse in judgement was drawing the queers' attention.

Mcnasty said...

He's also human & an American which means he can express his opinion.
"unjustly fired after writing a personal e-mail"

Note the personal email.

Anonymous said...

This story is worse than you can possibly imagine.

The email was sent on the guy's personnel laptop and on his own time. He had arrived at work and received an email from a group saying that those who opposed the gay marriage law were bigoted, hateful and prejudiced. The guy responded.

A case could be made that his professional neutrality was compromised, but he had not covered the vote on the law, and his career path would not have put him in a position to write about it.

The newspaper is declining to comment on the story. The head of the group that wrote the original email is saying they didn't call the paper or demand the guy be fired.

(That doesn't even pass the laugh test.)

But here's the real kicker......

Larry Girard's wife was fired from her position from paper that is owned by the same management group.

A grievance has been filed. Part of the grievance is that the newspaper failed to follow their own policy discipline / termination on this.

A lawsuit should follow.

Anonymous said...

@Anon 4:37,

Personal or not, if he was using company computing resources, then he is bound by company policy (assuming there is one.) Just because he has Internet access at work available, and has the ability to manage personal email doesn't give him the right to use it if the company prohibits it.

Anonymous said...

Personal or not, if he was using company computing resources, then he is bound by company policy (assuming there is one.) Just because he has Internet access at work available, and has the ability to manage personal email doesn't give him the right to use it if the company prohibits it.

Normally I would agree with you. If the newspaper had come out and said that he was terminated for using the company's computer resources, you would not hear a peep from me.

But he wasn't terminated for that. He was terminated for the content of the private email. That is a different issue. Furthermore, the company seems to have violated its own policies as the guy was terminated, instead of a progressive discipline.

Lastly, even if the guy did break the rules, under what reasoning was his wife terminated?

Bobby said...

"Personal or not, if he was using company computing resources, then he is bound by company policy "

---Exactly! If you take your company's laptop home, check out some porn at home with it, and then the IT guy finds it in your history, your ass is grass.

This reporter made the mistake of writing with his real name, you never do that unless it's business. Why? Because when you are a reporter your name and your newspaper are directly linked.

Moreover, it's unprofessional for a reporter to say that he's offended by any organizatio. I took a class with Bernie Goldberg, he's jewish and he interviewed the KKK in the 1960s, and never once did Bernie said on or off camera that the Klan was offensive. In fact, Goldberg told me he simply filmed the Klan rally and let the images and audio speak for themselves.

So when you're a fair and balanced reporter, you ask questions but you don't make judgements unless your doing commentary.

Anonymous said...

and murder rate and examine our prison populations where they are numerous in force and rape others...

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous 3:16,

"So when you're a fair and balanced reporter, you ask questions but you don't make judgements unless your doing commentary."

And that's the whole problem with the "news" media today (be it TV, radio, paper, Internet, whatever.) They don't report news anymore, they editorialize, opinionate, and spin in order to gain ratings or promote an agenda.

Bobby said...

"And that's the whole problem with the "news" media today (be it TV, radio, paper, Internet, whatever.) They don't report news anymore, they editorialize, opinionate, and spin in order to gain ratings or promote an agenda."

---That's why I trust Fox News, if they make a mistake they will correct themselves during primetime hours. The other networks don't do that, they simply ignore their mistake and hope it goes away.


"and murder rate and examine our prison populations where they are numerous in force and rape others..."

---Oh, give me a break. There are plenty of men that sleep with men by choice or force in prison and then get out and only sleep with women. The realities of prison life are universal, people get desperate for affection or they simply get tired of beating off to an old Playboy and find a human replacement. More over, in some cultures you're only gay when you get penetrated or blow somebody but not when somebody does that to you. Google "bugarron" if you don't believe me.

Moreover, prison rapes and murders are often commited by gangs and I don't think gangs like gays. In fact, some prisons segregate the gays for their own safety.

Anonymous said...

Bobby, don't be foold into thinking Fox is any different. They're just smart enough to "appear" a bit less liberal. If you pay attention, you will hear more "PC-speak" on Fox than almost any other station.

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the above typo; (fooled)

Bobby said...

"Bobby, don't be foold into thinking Fox is any different. They're just smart enough to "appear" a bit less liberal. If you pay attention, you will hear more "PC-speak" on Fox than almost any other station."

---I disagree, when I watch Fox I feel intellectually awake and respected. I enjoy hearing issues discussed from both sides, I love listening to Margareth Hoover and Megyn Kelly and many of the other people Bill O'Reilly brings.

Where's the PC-speak? These are the people that sell a bumpersticker that says "We say Merry Christmas." They're very patriotic and pro-America, in fact, an organization of military vets recently awarded Bill O'reilly their grand prize.

Now, if you can point me some example of PC-speak I'd be very interested to hear them.

Because frankly, the only bias I've seen on Fox News is when it comes to "torture-films" like Saw and Hostel which O'reilly had criticized strongly and hasn't bothered to interview people who defend those films. That part I don't get, he can interview people from Code Pink but he can't interview Ely Roth (Hostel, Hostel II)? Unless Ely happens to be a raving-liberal that doesn't want to appear on Fox News under any circumstances, it's inexcusable not to interview him.