Colleague made racist remark on Facebook

[vivizone]

Keeping the FB theme that's on here today!
Not her first time. I suspect she is a EDL/UKIP supporter. Always with her Daily Mail tucked under her arm.
I just feel so cross. Cross that I know this muppet and cross with myself for not saying anything. Made worse by another colleague 'liking' the comment and replying 'too right, too right'.
We work for a really professional organisation. A very well known org.

Would it be wrong to report it at work? I will delete both of them although the woman who wrote the status is a right loud bully. I am shocked and really disappointed in collg who commented. Quiet as a church mouse and she shares that type of thinking.
Both me and collg who commented on the status are non white if it makes any difference.
Sorry for typos. Typing on phone.

I'd pm or send her a comment making it clear that she's being an offensive c**t to you. It's her opinion and she should be allowed to voice it as should you. Then I'd defriend her. Don't think I would go as far as reporting it at work.

I remember in the last place I worked being astonished at the level of racist comments that were brushed off or laughed off. I met a company director whilst on my lunch break one day and a muslim man walked past us in the street (I concluded this from his dress before anyone asks..). Our director looked at me and laughed saying "oh f*k, here comes Mr Al Qaeda..." I was open mouthed. But this was an office where an arsehole of a colleague asked me if I was on my "rag week" because I was snappy with him one day. Didn't bother to report that either but said I was being snappy because he would a complete dik.

basic info here

you do realise the English are made up of Roman, Norman, Saxon and Celt don't you (Italians, French, Germans Oh MY!)

I'm disgusted by some of the support the op's racist colleague is getting. I know so many closet racists im rl, and they all come out with the same bullshit, 'I hate what this country has become' followed with 'I'm not racist but...' Fucking disgusting. I hope the op's colleague gets found out and loses her job or gets a warning at the v least. If she wasmycolleague I would have no qualms about reporting the ignorant racist twat.

Saint George was Greek.

Turks did not occupy what is now Turkey at that time.

'Saint George (c. 275/281 ? 23 April 303) was a Greek who became an officer in the Roman army. His father was the Greek Gerondios from Cappadocia Asia Minor and his mother was the Greek Polychronia from the city Lyda. Lyda was a Greek city from the times of the conquest of Alexander the Great (333 BC), now in Israel. He became an officer in the Roman army in the Guard of Diocletian. He is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography, Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic (Western and Eastern Rites), Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox churches. He is immortalized in the tale of Saint George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April, and he is regarded as one of the most prominent military saints.'

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George

DON'T get involved by PM'ing her. The case law around the extent to which employers can snoop into facebook comments made by their employees is a bit blurred, but essentially if she was discussing work or work related people or matters, it could land her in trouble.

I would 'unfriend' her and if the comments were sufficiently serious you can of course always report to HR. It is then up to them to decide whether it is sufficiently serious or work related to take action against her. Take a screen shot as suggested, it is the best proof.

Wow. There are a lot of racists, racist apologisers and general cunts on this thread, aren't there!

If you have a job that involves dealing with people and treating them fairly (so almost every type of job possible) and you hold racist/disablist/homophobic views then you are likely to be hampered in carrying out your job fairly. Therefore it is certainly an employer's business if their employees are openly publicising these views online.

Rhiannon - not sure I agree with that analysis. Most employers have an equal opps / anti-harassment policy. If they have reasonable evidence that one of their employees is behaving in a manner contrary to such a policy, they may be entitled to take action against them. They have a duty of care to protect all of their employees and if they believe that one employee might abuse or hold racist views about another, they may be perfectly within their rights to take action (subject always to the circumstnaces of course).

A person making publicly racist comments is not going to attract a huge amount of sympathy at an employment tribunal...

If her FB comments offend you then you have the option to report it, FB treat this seriously or comment with your views or simply unfriend her on FB. Her comments on FB are clearly not the opinion of the organisation that you work for. If her wall is open to the public rather than just her FB friends and she lists her employer then your HR department might talk to her about removing references to your company and/or making her FB private. However FB is a law unto itself (legally bound) so it is unlikey that they are going to bothered to do anything about it. If a member of the general public complains about it (highly unlikey surely?), then they will take the action already stated.

There is also the issue of FB usage, if you and your colleagues are accessing FB on your companies equipment/network then you may be in breach of contract and your IT department can raise an issue to HR. However if accessing via your own device, i.e. Smart Phone not using corporate network/wifi then your IT department won't get involved.

The exception to the points I raised are if the person in question works for the public sector and the equipment used is owned by a public sector body.

How many of you defending this comment would be scared about sitting next to my white british primary school children on the bus? After all they are muslim and they wear a rucksack?

Your employer can dismiss you for making inappropriate comments on FB regardless of your privacy settings. These kinds of dismissals are becoming increasingly common but people remain misguidedly of the view that FB is somehow private. Any of your posts can be quoted or reposted by your friends. Don't put anything on FB you wouldn't want your boss to see. And don't post racist bullshit then cry about freedom of speech when you are challenged about it.

Yes it is sad to see a small number of apologists on here, but thankfully the majority of us are balanced and intelligent enought to know racism when we see it and to find it abhorrent.

ChairmanWow FB isn't Twitter and the law is different. If your wall is exclusive to your FB friends it isn't in the public domain and therefore has nothing to do with your employer. A half decent barrister would easily get such a case dismissed.

It's quite possible to be anti-immigration and anti-multiculturalism without being racist per se.

Classic I'm not a racist but....speak! Technically you may be right but in practice it is very rare to find one without the other (well, in my experience anyway...)

I think it's ridiculous that employers can tell you what to think

They can't....nobody can. But it seems to me to be perfectly acceptable to be asked to shut up about it on work time/in work's name.

Sorry, probably a bit off topic but, I remember taking my daughter to the park with my ex-partner when she was about four weeks old. We took some sandwiches with us and I was looking forward to spending time with my daughter and my then partner.

We were sat on a bench and this bloke, who happened to be of Indian descent and who happened to have a rucksack, sat next to us. My partner then grabbed my daughter, put her in the buggy, which woke her up, and said, 'we need to move in case we get blown up'.

Needless to say, I stayed put and laughed in amusement as my ex-partner stormed around the park, muttering under his breath, with a flourenscent pink buggy in tow.

Another time, we were in a pub. Some guy called me a N*gger. Ex-partner hit him.

After three years of being with this moron, I realised that his attitude was 'as and when it suits'.

And finally, Rhiannon there is a world of difference between reasoned debate and the offensive/ hysterical tripe as posted by Vivi's colleague.

Report her if she's broken the social media policy.

It's quite possible to be anti-immigration and anti-multiculturalism without being racist per se.

Maybe it is (but I doubt it on multicultural) however the comment on FB was racist. As a lawyer I would certainly expect that questions would be asked about employees posting the comment. They may or may not lead to dismissal but if employers don't do something about this type of public banter they are in greater difficulties if they received complaints about racist or religious harassment as they can be said to have allowed the culture to exist and pervade the workforce

Wow. There are a lot of racists, racist apologisers and general cunts on this thread, aren't there!

I would 'unfriend' her and if the comments were sufficiently serious you can of course always report to HR. It is then up to them to decide whether it is sufficiently serious or work related to take action against her. Take a screen shot as suggested, it is the best proof.

^ This. You decide on a personal level, and give HR the details and let them decide on a company level.

So st George was à greek god of sorts?

That would explain Why us brits are so sexy