Colleagues social media - WWYD

[Colleaguedilemma99]

Name changed

I saw on Facebook a colleague was suggested as a friend I may know. Not really friends but had a nose on profile. To my disgust, there are retweets of anti BLM posts and also a post saying he had beat up a man that said something to his kid.

This colleague is a senior manager in a public company. I’m not jealous, we are not competitors so that is. It my angle but wibu to report this?

Would he lose his job or get a telling off. I have seen him be unpleasant before and I feel like he should be pulled to task but equally it’s a tough economic time if he were to lose his job. I don’t think that would happen. I could imagine they publically re-educate him, so they save face and he “learns”. The posts are disgusting so that would be false.

Voting yes - ignore, Ainu

       No - reports, this is wrong

@IntermittentParps

racist? In what way?

Well, what if he said 'white people, if your lives matter why do you kill each other'?

Not sure that would be racist either? Why would it be?

Are you being deliberately obtuse?
A simple way to see if something is racist (or any other -ist) is to substitute another group instead (so white, Jewish, gay...)

People don't go round saying 'white people, why do you kill each other?' in spite of the fact that white people DO kill each other. It's othering and dehumanising.

@CloudyVanilla

I don't really know how anti-BLM and not racist can be used in the same sentence in good faith.

You do realise it's possible to believe that black lives matter but not support Black Lives Matter?

Can you imagine if MN were hacked and all our real names/workplaces published? How many of us have said, “I’d have killed him given half a chance^ or words to that effect. Taken out of context it could be seen as evidence of intended murder rather than exasperation at a dh hogging the remote control...

This. There is a world of difference between thought and action, even if the thoughts are recorded.

Also, the OP seems very keen for this individual to be “pulled to task” because she has “seen him be unpleasant before”. That rather smacks of the OP seeking revenge for some sort of past slight. So it’s OK to use thought crime, even if it is written down, to right some sort of perceived wrong in a manner that somebody unaffected by the thought crime, but who has appointed themselves the thought police, deems appropriate.

Who knows what this past ‘unpleasant’ behaviour was? Taking the last car parking space? Not listening to the OP or one of her friends intently enough in a meeting? Preferring Boyzone to Take That?

Whatever it was, the OP is keen for the perpetrator to be “publically (sic) re-educated”. Think hard about what a public re-education would involve. Is that what we all want: for anybody whose opinions don’t match the prevailing mood to be put in the metaphorical stocks? Because things like that have a habit of backfiring when the prevailing mood changes, as a poster noted above.

@IntermittentParps

Are you being deliberately obtuse? A simple way to see if something is racist (or any other -ist) is to substitute another group instead (so white, Jewish, gay...)

People don't go round saying 'white people, why do you kill each other?' in spite of the fact that white people DO kill each other. It's othering and dehumanising.

No, I'm genuinely confused as to why this is racism. Are you being deliberately rude because I see things differently? He has responded to a BLM statement. It doesn't necessarily make him a racist. I'm not defending him, because he may be a horrid racist, but just because someone responds to something specific doesn't mean he can't also be thinking "white people, why do you kill each other?" Maybe not in those exact words, but maybe he is just wishing that people would stop killing each other but his response is specifically to the BLM post.

Sigh, I'm not explaining myself well, I'm not that good with the words. But, as this thread shows, you are entirely within your rights to interpret one sentence one way, as am I. I am not convinced this one reaction to a BLM statement proves racism, but you are, and it's okay to agree to disagree.

@ProfessorSlocombe

He boasted about beating someone up publicly - he can face the consequences of that.

Doesn't mean he actually did it though, does it ? He might be "lying". Apparently it's a thing some people do sometimes.

He might be lying or he might not be. I’d still report and leave it up to whoever deals with that to decide if that’s ok to post publicly or if it goes against their social media policy.

He might be lying or he might not be. I’d still report and leave it up to whoever deals with that to decide if that’s ok to post publicly or if it goes against their social media policy.

The idea of reporting a post to Facebook because "it might be made up" does rather raise a smile.

And we return to the slightly swerved question about whether the profile is visible to all (in which case a company might have grounds for action) or visible to friends or friends of friends only. In which case they may be on much shakier ground. And that's before you consider the person in question may have explicitly blocked their company and it's staff from seeing their page from the get go. Which makes the situation around "doing something" even more murky.

FrizzyHairMalarkey, I did say his statement was 'quite possibly a racist one', not 'definitely'. And no, I can't be sure that he doesn't also think 'white people, why do you kill each other?'; but I would suspect that he doesn't.
This 'all lives matter'/'why do black people not just stop killing each other' stuff is everywhere and I don't –can't – find it innocent.

You should definitely report. We had a now ex-senior manager who was posting live updates on his profile when in meetings that his crush etc had just entered the room. It's totally inappropriate, worse still it's public. This manager holds a publiic sector post, yet is abusing his position. You definitely should report.

Thanks for all replies - really interesting to see both sides.

Wombat - I have heard the way he talks about others which led to the statement he has been unpleasant. No personal retaliation at all. My comments re :re-education are that I suspect this is the action HR would take, not the action I would like to see so very different context.

You did use the phrase "publically re-educate him" which is reminiscent of putting the offender in the stocks so the people can jeer. It sounds vindictive and nasty.

Wtf is wrong with people? What drives OP and others to want to 'report' someone, and potentially get them sacked, for having views they disagree with? It's sick as hell.

We live in a democracy and can express opinions? It isn't related to his work. So yes you are being unreasonable

Ugh OP, the very worst thing about being a Liberal, and left wing at that, is seeing the slide into speech-censoring, cancelling, de-platforming, reporting, snooping, and spewing forth of righteous hate and shaming as an approach to changing someone's mind. Its like the love child of a new ultra orthodox religion and student politics at its very worst. Its also anti-intellectual and panders to the kind of base people that would throw rotten food at someone in the stocks.
Crap like this is why the conservatives won the election.
Do better.

@Lasttraintolondon great post

Ffs mind your own business, he doesnt have to suppoet any movement

@Lasttraintolondon is so right
The lefts reputation is ruined due to the constant nanny state attempts. Censoring anything you don't agree with isn't helping anyone.

So you have heard him say unpleasant things....so what lots of people say unpleasant things doesn't mean they should be sacked for the job.

Actually why not tell us these unpleasant things he has said?

DH and I both work in the public sector. Different organisations. We would be dismissed for something like this.

This manager holds a publiic sector post, yet is abusing his position. You definitely should report.

How many times? The OP said that this man is a senior manager in a public company.

A public company is one quoted on the stock exchange, in which anybody can buy shares.

It is not the same as ‘the public sector’.

Report op

@mabelandivy

You should definitely report. We had a now ex-senior manager who was posting live updates on his profile when in meetings that his crush etc had just entered the room. It's totally inappropriate, worse still it's public. This manager holds a publiic sector post, yet is abusing his position. You definitely should report.

But he hasn't done that, so it's a completely different scenario. Oh and where did the OP say he worked in the Public Sector? She said he works for a public company, that's completely different.

@Lasttraintolondon

Ugh OP, the very worst thing about being a Liberal, and left wing at that, is seeing the slide into speech-censoring, cancelling, de-platforming, reporting, snooping, and spewing forth of righteous hate and shaming as an approach to changing someone's mind. Its like the love child of a new ultra orthodox religion and student politics at its very worst. Its also anti-intellectual and panders to the kind of base people that would throw rotten food at someone in the stocks. Crap like this is why the conservatives won the election. Do better.

the love child of a new ultra orthodox religion

Nailed it.