-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Lindsey Stone, a 30-year-old Massachusetts native, has been terminated because of the photo (shown left) she posted on her Facebook page. Lindsey worked for LIFE (Living Independent Forever), a Cape Cod-based nonprofit organization that assists adults with learning disabilities. Jamie Schuh, who took the photo, and Lindsey’s supervisor at LIFE, was also terminated.
The two were on a company-paid trip to Washington D.C. when the photo was taken. The photo shows Lindsey mocking a sign at Arlington National Cemetery. The photo went viral and over 30,000 people liked a Facebook page set up to demand her firing. The two have apologized for the gag:
We never meant any disrespect to any of the people nationwide who have served this country and defended our freedom so valiantly.
While the photo obviously mocks the sign, many apparently thought it mocked those buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A sign demanding “Silence and Respect” deserves to be mocked. The wording of the sign projects a sense of arrogance and entitlement common to institutions that view themselves as sacred cows.
Adding the word “Please” to the sign would change the command to a request, a more sensible sentiment.
H/T: Mano Singham, Gawker, Boston Herald.
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True dat, OS. Many employers are setting such specific policy and including clauses in employment contracts to cover such issues in the age of social media.
She had every right to do what she did.
She also gets to suffer the consequences for it. I think it’s great that someone let her know what she did was rude, stupid, and very disrespectful.
Death treats, etc. are beyond reproach, however, and those deserve just as strong of a punishment.
You don’t just have a right TO bad behavior. You have a right to speak out AGAINST it.
Just an afterthought. I don’t want anyone working for us who exercises judgement this poor. Dumb enough to post a picture like this on Facebook is too dumb to work for us. In fact, our employee handbook spells out guidelines for use of social media and blogging. It says specifically that anything an employee posts on line is a reflection on the firm, and explains there are bright lines one does not cross if they want to remain employed.
JAG,
None of which is imprisonment and none of which is government action. If anything is to be done legally about the website, that is up to Stone to file suit. She’s the only one with standing to do so. Same goes for the death threats. She can file a report with the police.
Almost every employer will can an employee who does things that bring disrepute to the company. I would have fired her for this. She is free to say and do whatever she wants as long as it is not illegal, but when my email is filled up with a few thousand people threatening to boycott our firm, she is gone!
She can exercise her free speech somewhere else.
id707,
Many contracts have a broad morals clause such a firing could be justified under and/or a clause about not brining negative publicity to the company itself, both relevant as they were on a trip paid for by the company and most of the press mentioned that fact.
Thanks for the link, Dredd. Reposting:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/36661/general-petraeuss-link-troubling-suicide-iraq-ted-westhusing-story#
“Bryce referred to a “two-inch stack of documents, obtained over the past 15 months under the Freedom of Information Act, that provides many details of Westhusing’s suicide…. The documents echo the story told by Westhusing’s friends. ‘Something he saw [in Iraq] drove him to this,’ one Army officer who was close to Westhusing said in an interview. ‘The sum of what he saw going on drove him’ to take his own life. ‘It’s because he believed in duty, honor, country that he’s dead.’ ”
In Iraq, Westhusing worked under two generals: Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, and Petraeus, then a lieutenant general. But Bryce continued: “By late May, Westhusing was becoming despondent over what he was seeing.” When his body was found, a note was found nearby addressed to Petraeus and Fil. It read:
“Thanks for telling me it was a good day until I briefed you. [Redacted name]—You are only interested in your career and provide no support to your staff—no msn [mission] support and you don’t care. I cannot support a msn that leads to corruption, human right abuses and liars. I am sullied—no more. I didn’t volunteer to support corrupt, money grubbing contractors, nor work for commanders only interested in themselves. I came to serve honorably and feel dishonored. I trust no Iraqi. I cannot live this way. All my love to my family, my wife and my precious children. I love you and trust you only. Death before being dishonored any more.
“Trust is essential—I don’t know who trust anymore. Why serve when you cannot accomplish the mission, when you no longer believe in the cause, when your every effort and breath to succeed meets with lies, lack of support, and selfishness? No more. Reevaluate yourselves, cdrs [commanders]. You are not what you think you are and I know it.”
Twelve days after Westhusing’s body was found, Army investigators talked with his widow, who told them: “I think Ted gave his life to let everyone know what was going on. They need to get to the bottom of it, and hope all these bad things get cleaned up.””
Id707,
Here you go….http://m.cnet.com.au/cameras-with-gps-tagging-built-in-339301229.htm?redir=1
Just like everything else….. Soon….they will all be built that/this way….
GeneH,
So how are employment contracts formulated so as fo restrict employee speech not with specific respect to the employment or employer?
Really.
And what’s your proof for that?
I saw nothing in any of the coverage I read about her being arrested or imprisoned for anything. The 1st Amendment only applies to governmental actions, not private actions.
———————————-
she received many death threats…..
That was reported in ALL of the articles about this story….
and there are pages that have posted her personal information……
http://www.lindseystone.net
and yet… NOBODY has done a THING about this website…. Created ONLY to further harass Lindsay Stone…
Go and read the comments on the news sites on this story…..
You will see what I am talking about…..
AY,
Do all digital cameras have location info registered? Satellite nav? Cell base statiion triangulation. Not asking about cell phones of course.
“HOWEVER…. She is still imprisoned….”
Really.
And what’s your proof for that?
I saw nothing in any of the coverage I read about her being arrested or imprisoned for anything. The 1st Amendment only applies to governmental actions, not private actions.
The woman is a smart ass no doubt. She made a crude joke, a tasteless picture. She should be embarrassed but since what she did had no impact on her job the firing is over reaction. This is a sad, sick, society that reacts this way
It’s not a 1st Amendment issue. They weren’t fired by government action, but by a private employer. It may be a wrongful termination issue, but maybe not. It depends on the terms of their employment. Many contracts contain clauses that would allow this kind of firing, but there was no charges filed against them that I know of.
—————————
Yes…. I get that it was not the Government that sanctioned this….
HOWEVER…. She is still imprisoned….
The RESULT is still the same……
If people overlook a detail such as the fact that she was NOT mocking the dead….. that she was ONLY mocking a sign… and people refuse to see the TRUTH…. and refuse to have a sense of homour…..
Then citizens can petition to have you fired…..
Make you fear for your life…. and cause you to have to go into hiding…..
That is NOT FREEDOM…..
There is a story about another soldier buried there who, when he died, was the highest ranking officer in Iraq to have died in that war.
He committed suicide because of the war crimes he saw being committed in a we he came to see as a dishonorable commercial enterprise:
—————————–
Interesting that you mention this….
I also thought about the Soldiers that are buried there that may NOT have been as honourable……
People were saying that Arlington is Hallowed Ground…..
WELL…. Fact is…. how sacred can a place be that would bury people who have committed war crimes?????
There is a LOT of Hero Worship going on…..
“People claim that this is not a First Amendment issue….
BUT, I beg to differ…..”
It’s not a 1st Amendment issue. They weren’t fired by government action, but by a private employer. It may be a wrongful termination issue, but maybe not. It depends on the terms of their employment. Many contracts contain clauses that would allow this kind of firing, but there was no charges filed against them that I know of.
oops … two corrections to my comment:
“He committed suicide because of the war crimes he saw being committed in a
wewar he came to see as a dishonorable commercial enterprise …”Also Colonel Westhusing was buried at West Point, not Arlington.
Arlington Cemetery….. The only property permanently seized because of the Civil War…. Before the war…. The home of Robert E. Lee…..
The lady had every right to do what she did….. Some consider this unacceptable behavior….. Some … Whatever…. PC….. The bottom line there are consequences for everything done……
I see the humor….. Some have no sense of humor unless they are in control of the humor….. If you can’t stand the heat…. Stay out of the paper….or net….. Or however you communicate to your peeps…..
Remember unless you have an old style camera….. It encodes, imbeds your exact location and time that the picture was taken…..
justagurlinseattle 1, December 2, 2012 at 9:22 am
…
My Grandfather is buried at Arlington Natl. and in NO WAY did I feel that she was being disrespectful of the Fallen Soldiers there….
She MOCKED a SIGN…..
=======================================
There is a story about another soldier buried there who, when he died, was the highest ranking officer in Iraq to have died in that war.
He committed suicide because of the war crimes he saw being committed in a we he came to see as a dishonorable commercial enterprise:
(General Petraeus’s Link to a Troubling Suicide in Iraq: The Ted Westhusing Story). We cannot respect or be silent about such matters that are done ostensibly in our names.
Ahh YES…. The Bird Flipping heard around the world…..
This is such a disgusting story…..
The Torches and pitchforks were out in numbers to take down this girl and her boss….
My Grandfather is buried at Arlington Natl. and in NO WAY did I feel that she was being disrespectful of the Fallen Soldiers there….
She MOCKED a SIGN…..
People claim that this is not a First Amendment issue….
BUT, I beg to differ…..
If people do not feel safe to voice their opinions, then they will no longer offer them….
This girl received DEATH threats…. Threats of harassment…. threats of bodily harm…. and of course… Loss of livelihood…..
The Government did not put her in prison…..
HOWEVER…. the CITIZENS DID……
How is that acting better than the enemy we fight in the Taliban??????
NOW people have to FEAR for their lives and go into hiding for mocking a sign, just as the Danish artist had to go into hiding from drawing a cartoon
mocking Mohammed….
The USA no longer has Freedom Of Speech…..
and it is VERY obvious that many in the USA have no sense of humour….
“Silence and Respect” on that sign, in this case, is a code word for WORSHIP.
It is very Romanesque and Mythical in several ways.