Lancashire council and the Gary Glitter email

[JollyPirate]

Just read on Google news that a load of staff including some social workers have been sacked over a not so funny joke email regarding Gary Glitter. Now paedophilia is nothing to joke about but a rather silly email is doing the rounds (I've been sent it at work and at home - tbh just thought - "not amusing" and deleted it).

I am ready to be flamed here BUT in a time when there are not enough social workers, high needs and not enough money to go around surely the council had better things to spend it's money on than in disciplining staff who opened and may have forwarded an email ffs.

Baby P springs to mind and all the potential Baby Ps out there. There are now a few less social workers to monitor them in Lancashire. Surely a written warning would have done - why sack someone over an email for goodness sake. I think this country has gone mad.

Or am I wrong?

Am sure MN will tell me robustly if I am.

Haven't seen the joke, but as a teacher there is no way on earth I would send it on (or find it funny) if my colleagues had sent it to me I would hope they were sacked..honestly. It's all about having the right mind-set to fit the right job surely.

if you do that sort of job you need a black / gallows sense of humour to see you through ime.... not saying they weren't in the wrong, they clearly were but not sure sacking was proportionate.

I would assume that most companies have an information security policy and Chain mails will be part of this. So yes, there aren't enough SWs but if you're silly enough to do it on your work e-mail then you should face the consequences.

don't kow what the joke is so can't comment on that.
but when you are dealing with paedophilia daily you do need to develop a rather black sense of humour.

At the same time however, its one thing to have a chuckle..a complete other to then pass it on from a work account.
your work email really shouldn't be used for such things

Surely if someone sends the email on it because they find it amusing, and paedophilia is not amusing in any context, so I am shocked a social worker would have that kind of sense of humour.

while I understand black humour, we all do it, but if you have seen the effect of paeds face to face, there's no way you could pass a joke on - unless you are so hardened by it, you do need a break from your job.

Oh ffs

I have seen this email

I may have forwarded it on

You are living in a parallel universe if you think that social workers have less of a sense of humour than the rest of us, they need more, especially about the stuff they deal with every day. That is the stuff that people joke about

MILs - you can't joke about them if you have one

lil - you haven't seen the joke

it is doing him down if it is the one I saw

I'd have let it pass since I'm a great believer in being able to joke about anything. Still they are the ones who are supposed to deal with these things objectively so it's perhaps not appropriate in work.

Written warnings definitely appropriate but sacking for "gross misconduct" seems a tad over the top. Let's not forget either that you and I as taxpayers have funded the bill for pursuing this and will now continue to fund it while they try and replace staff who are hard to come by in the fist place.

As I said I just thought it was rather silly but others have giggled and passed it on. Not sure anyone should be sacked for a daft moment (which - lets face it - we all have at times).

Just think the whole thing has been a large waste of money which councils and social work departments don't have in the first place according to themselves.