Daily Tidbit
You did WHAT?
Nov 11th
Welcome to our first installment of “You did WHAT?” where we discuss the latest news in the world of stupidity that leads to people being fired.
First up today, Larry Jones has been fired from Feed The Children, the very foundation he started more than 30 years ago. This comes after a year ago Larry tried to fire several top executives, as well as his own daughter who is the general counsel for the foundation. Things turned ugly, courts were involved, and a judge ruled to reinstate the fired executives. The firing came when it was discovered that Jones placed recording devices in several offices. This week, Larry Jones 
fired back with a lawsuit of his own claiming that he was fired because of “reasons of personal malice and spite.”
…this has turned ugly a long time ago and we can expect to continue hearing about this feud…but placing recording devices in people’s offices…come on Larry…
In Boston, a police officer has been fired for allegedly texting a pic of male genitalia to a woman. Officer Michael Gonsalves told the Times in August he did text a photo of male genitalia to a woman, but said it was a joke, according to the paper.
ugh… umm… I’m sure there’s plenty of context missing here, and I’m willing to give Gonsalves the benefit of the doubt here… I guess the bigger question is, who is this woman?… one thing’s for sure – she definitely didn’t get the joke…
Here’s another great story: A Florida middle school teacher has been fired for drawing a map of the United States with Florida resembling a penis. When questioned about the disproportionate looking map by his middle-schoolers, Ryan Haraughty said, “Florida got excited.” The school board claimed that Haraughty created a sexually hostile environment and fired him.
ok, well, obviously it’s not his drawing skill that got Ryan fired, but his comment that followed… it’s clear that there was no intent of wrong doing, and we all know that kids in middle school are already clued in that they weren’t dropped off by a stork… but it’s important to remember that (a) they’re still kids and sexually oriented humor is not appropriate and that (b) you’re in a classroom – an environment where you should at least try to maintain professionalism and respectability.
Finally, in Minnesota, over 1200 janitors employed by ABM have been fired after the company carried out an audit prompted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
1200… wow… imagine if they carry out an audit in California and New York… but that’s a lot of illegals out of a job… but worry not, Minnesottans, there’s plenty more immigrants willing to clean your offices…
Feed The Children
Introduction: You did WHAT?
Nov 11th
What I’ve realized since I started writing this blog is that there are a lot of firings in the news… every day there’s a story about a policeman or a teacher or a janitor doing something to get themselves fired. Needless to say the reasons range from stealing to overeating, and if it makes the news, it’s guaranteed to be controversial… or at least a worthy discussion… for me, what’s interesting is that the stories involve people who often hold important public positions – these are people who we rely on to educate our children, protect our streets, heal us, create laws, etc… and when the smoke clears and emotions move past, it’s quite remarkable how many individuals with rotten characters are entrusted with positions where they are expected to set the bar and be a role model. I guess we are all allowed to be our own individuals behind closed doors, in privacy, and while this has been relatively easy to accomplish in the past, it’s obvious that this is no longer the case… living in a world overflowed with information and the advance of the internet, one has a much smaller capacity for keeping their private life private, and as such, more and more individuals become exposed for the person they are in private, rather than for their work performance while on the clock.
Today, we are launching a new segment on Fired! called, “You did WHAT?” where we will track and announce all the interesting and relevant firings from the news. This will be a good way to put all the interesting stories in one place without having to pick one or two most interesting and ditch the rest… of course, stories that are real “special” will get their own post and discussion, but this will be a great way to build up our collection of stories of stupidity that leads to termination…bring every fired story to the top, and help you avoid a similar situation.
Feel free to comment or spark discussion on any of the topics.
Denver school employee fired for duct-taping student
Oct 28th
What would you do if your first-grader came home to tell you that his mouth and hands were duct-taped in school as punished for disrupting class? I’m sure it would be more than just insulting, as the case with yesterday’s poster. But this horror story is exactly the situation in which Ashlye Tenner finds herself today. Her son, Joshua, was said to be disturbing class, and was sent to the principle’s office by his first grade teacher. The principle was out to lunch when Joshua arrived, however the secretary, Jennifer Carter, was there to promptly greet Joshua with duct tape. According to news reports, the school principle discovered the duct-taped Joshua upon returning to lunch, removed the duct tape, and apologized to him. 
Jennifer Carter has been arrested by the police and charged with misdemeanor child abuse and false imprisonment. Needless to say, she has been fired from the school, which said in a statement, “Based on the evidence confirmed at Read the rest of this entry »
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