Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Politics

Grubhub CEO Issues Email Warning Employees That Trump Rhetoric or Support Would Not Be Tolerated

grubhub_corporate_logo_from_s-1_6_dated_april_2_2014The CEO and co-Founder of Grubhub Matt Maloney has added his voice to the rising anger over the election. The question is whether he went too far in a recent email to all of employees at the food delivery service that some interpreted as meaning that they should resign if they agree with Trump’s campaign statements or positions. He states “I absolutely reject the nationalist, anti-immigrant and hateful politics of Donald Trump and will work to shield our community from this movement as best as I can.” Maloney’s response is why so many Trump voters kept their views secret, including from pollsters. There is a palpable and rising backlash against tens of millions of citizens who exercised their votes in electing Trump. I heard today from a GW student who said that she has been treated as a pariah by other students who were once her friends. However, this backlash is far more serious when coming from the head of a large company in the imposition of what is effectively a political litmus test. The question is where is the outrage? Remember the hue and cry over the owners of the Chick-fil-A chain? That was triggered by a controversial interview given by Chick-Fil-A president Dan Cathy. Yet, when another company actually threatens to fire anyone who agrees with Trump, there is relatively little response.

Maloney’s email had a subject line of “So . . . that happened…what’s next?” He expressed personal shock with the result and added “I absolutely reject the nationalist, anti-immigrant and hateful politics of Donald Trump and will work to shield our community from this movement as best as I can.” Other statements included:

“I want to reaffirm to anyone on our team that is scared or feels personally exposed, that I and everyone else here at Grubhub will fight for your dignity and your right to make a better life for yourself and your family here in the United States.”

“While demeaning, insulting, and ridiculing minorities, immigrants, and the physically/mentally disabled worked for Mr. Trump, I want to be clear that this behavior — and these views — have no place at Grubhub.”

He made clear that Trump might be president but he could never work at this company — or by extension his supporters: “Had he worked here, many of his comments would have resulted in his immediate termination.”

Maloney then told employees that “If you do not agree with this statement then please reply to this email with your resignation because you have no place here. We do not tolerate hateful attitudes on our team.”

Maloney was a public supporter of Hillary Clinton.

I have no issue with a CEO addressing any fears of employees for themselves or their families in light of expected changes in immigration laws. However, there is a line of expressed sympathy for families and expressed hostility toward political views.

Maloney said later that he was proud of the email and that “almost 20 percent” of his employees have personally thanked him.

Ok, that still leaves 80 percent — many of which are likely to now believe that uttering their agreement with the President-elect could result in discipline.

He later issued a press release clarifying his remarks and confirming “does not discriminate on the basis of someone’s principles, or political or other beliefs.” He insisted “I want to clarify that I did not ask for anyone to resign if they voted for Trump. I would never make such a demand. To the contrary, the message of the email is that we do not tolerate discriminatory activity or hateful commentary in the workplace, and that we will stand up for our employees.” Yet, he tied those unacceptable remarks directly to Trump and his supporters. It is hardly paranoia for Trump supporters to conclude that they can only express their political views at their own peril.

What do you think?

106 thoughts on “Grubhub CEO Issues Email Warning Employees That Trump Rhetoric or Support Would Not Be Tolerated”

  3. Lee Harvey Oswald – where are you now when the world really needs you???

    You poison-pen-tattooed-bigots who criticize an employer who protects his customers and employees from the expression of disgusting, rude, bullying and an endless list of psychopathic behaviors missed your calling as Nazis.

    Such people in families or businesses who would be unacceptable as friends deserve to be shunned for life and will not behave that way towards me more than once.

  4. I agree – boycotting is the way to go. The only way to change things is hit these corporations financially. I do not frequent Whole Foods, try to avoid buying goods from China (very difficult) and have dropped my subscriptions to numerous magazines who trashed Bernie, Jill AND Trump during the campaign, etc. I’d like to boycott Amazon, but my husband likes the shows =)

    And I am also in favor of BDS.

    Michael – I love your tactic of messing with Leftist info booths. Very funny!

    1. Bernie is a populist but not an authoritarian like Trump. Bernie is our resistance movement leader.

  7. Oh. No more pedophile priests. Castrate them and put the articles of their confusion in the plate when it is passed at church on Sunday. That case where the guy committed suicide because of his experience with a catholic priest back when he was a child is enough. Castrate all the suspects after you round em up. Tell the Pope to eat goat feces.

  9. One thing. No more photos of Hillary with the sunglasses on where she is looking down at her smartphone. Trump won. My eyes cannot take those photos anymore. No more of her, Bill or Chelsea. Let em all go out to sea.
    Now the Blog should focus on civil rights and how they can be curbed now that our guy is in. Voting should be on election day only. Mexicans should be able to come and work the fields and go when the fields are picked. No more subsidized housing projects. Close em down. No more welfare checks for knocked up 14 year old girls who found a daddy at the bus stop. No more free medical care for anyone. No controls on drug fees or doctor fees. Make friends with Putin and tell Hillary of Germany to pound sand. Ground troops on the Mexican and Canadian borders. Pull the troops out of the muddle east. End NATO. No more UN. Kick em out of NYC. I could go on.

    1. And let’s reverse the EPA and bring back smog. Who said, “Pollution, why that’s just the smell of success.”? And let’s lose millions of jobs as no one will be able to afford American goods. But, guess what, there will be plenty of sub minimum wage jobs, the ones done by those dastardly Mexicans, who are now back in Mexico or hiding out, or being forced into a life of crime. And let’s get rid of all the lobbyists, why Trump is already making them head up the teams that will run the economy. For a sneak preview take a look at the crew he is putting together.

      If Trump does half of what he said America is in for a recession that will make Bush look like FDR. Oh, Trump called Obama a ‘good man’, as if he is anyone to know what good means. Obama was biting his tongue throughout. Get ready for an unrelenting stream of information about Trump and his life thus far. The half of America that caused this shame and upcoming disaster will be posting here on Turley’s blog how it was all the fault of the Democrats, Obama, Clinton, Carter, Kennedy, FDR, etc. There will be unrelenting cherry picking showing the faults of Americans that happen to be left leaning. Occasionally Turley will insert a faux pas by a righty, because he is so impartial. What’s more amazing is that since the end of the Vietnam War, America’s last great shame, its citizens have done consistently better economically under Democrat administrations and have suffered the worst recessions since the Great Depression under Republican Presidents. But, hey suffering isn’t progressive, isn’t politically correct, but is is becoming American.

      The real pain is going to be to have to listen to the ongoing lies by America’s most pathological liar, Donald Trump. He has been self gratifying and lying for over 70 years, do you really think he will stop now. But, he will have an audience applauding, almost half of the people in this land. And, after another Democrat cleans up Trump’s mess they will fester and stew in silence until they find another on which to vent their spleen.

      Someone on this blog asked me if I had ever listened to Trump. I did, several times. I couldn’t get over how backward so many Americans were to applaud this huckster, buffoon, con artist, etc. It was like listening to a White Supremacist, Wayne the Peter, a really bad TV show. But, I did listen, searching for something. We’ll see. I will be the first to admit I was wrong if he turns out to be the genius half of America thinks he is. I will relish apologizing as being right in this case spells disaster.

      1. Well Issac, you may not be aware of it but MANY, MANY people I know cast a vote against Clinton. Her governance was a certainty and for that it was reasonable and rational to vote against her. Trump WILL NOT receive the same sort of deaf, dumb and blind support that Obama has had over the last 8 years. If he governs WITHIN the limits of the constitution and separation of powers, then he will have my support. The nanosecond he violates that oath, he will have my full-throated opposition.

      2. I suspect the EPA did not do as much for decreasing smog as having so many of our factories head overseas.

        Not sure if China has an EPA, but even if they did, the number of factories there would still be overwhelming. One filtered cigarette/day person versus a 3 packs of filtered cigarettes per day.

      3. “Vietnam War, America’s last great shame”

        Huh?

        Patriot Act, War in Iraq, Libya, Syria

  10. Off subject . Coach Belichick and Tom Brady were backing Trump. Just proves winners stick together.

  11. First, thanks veterans for your service. Second did you expect anything different from these people. They don’.t like discrimination unless they’re the ones doing it.

  13. I would boycott this grub joint if I knew what the hell it was and where it is. I am now for Trump all the way. I was all the way with LBJ. In fact I helped him get into the highest office.

    1. What are you critiquing?

      The CEO’s poor decision or posters criticizing the CEO?

      He can certainly say what he did, but boy was it unwise.

  15. The left’s attempt to bring to heel all those who disagree with their political and social positions, is the reason Trump supporters spoofed the Media, Pundits and Pollsters, and voted for Donald Trump. How much longer will we have a right to vote, or will it soon not matter who votes, or how many vote, because it will only matter who counts the votes. The Left pushed people too far. Now they’ve pushed back, not by setting cities on fire, not by burning our flag, not by looting businesses, not by disrespecting our Police and Military, and not by beating innocent passers by, but by expressing themselves at the ballet box. They did it by voting.

    Socialism, Executive Dictates, Elite Corruption, Political Correctness, Voluminous Laws, Rules and Regulations, Being Forced to Buy what We Don’t Want by those who are Exempt, Limited Free Speech, Safe Spaces, Snowflakes, Meddling in Every Aspect of our Lives, Failing to provide Adequate Healthcare for all Veterans, Ignoring our Homeless while taking in more and more Refugees and Allowing in More and More Illegal Immigrants, and Failure to Identify our Enemies as Radical Islamic Terrorists, have all been rejected by the people.

    The Left is so accustomed to receiving unearned trophies, they don’t know how to lose and become a better person for having done so. No, not everyone can be the winner every time.

  16. In true Fascist fashion, the alt Left has threatened Trump supporters with the loss of family, friends, sometimes violence and jobs.

    It is offensive to me that adults insist on believing that half the country is racist instead of considering that perhaps the problem was they disagreed with policy, corruption, cheating, pay to play, Obamacare, Common Core, and/or the PC cupcake safe space culture. Maybe, just maybe, people had different opinions on these issues than Hillary Clinton.

    But no, hysterics actually believe that the same country that elected a black President 8 years ago suddenly became more racist than the Jim Crow South. It’s irrational. But, I suppose they were primed for this with all the BLM agitation encouraging violence and hatred against the police. This kind of senseless rhetoric seems in a similar vein.

    No employer should jeopardize the job or otherwise harass employees over their personal political differences.

    I need to stop watching the news, because my tone towards the Left has become increasingly bitter and estranged, starting a bit with Obamacare, but steadily worsening this past year. The behavior I have observed, especially towards free speech and the tolerance of different viewpoints, has soured me towards what I view as the alt-Left. Or the extreme Liberal. I need to remind myself that there are still fiscal conservative, Constitutional Democrats who support free speech. It’s like how Europeans form their opinions on CA by hearing about the gang shootings on the news, so they think all of SoCal is like either Baywatch or Compton.

    1. KarenS – re: “In true Fascist fashion, the alt Left has threatened Trump supporters with the loss of family, friends, sometimes violence and jobs.”

      With all due respect you are misinformed. It is the Liberals and the PC Left who are whining and hostile. The alt/Left aka Progressives are an entirely different species. The alt/Left is anti-PC and seek to discern truth based on facts. We are not hostile to Trumpsters -we consistently called called out HRC and corruption of the DNC. We supported Bernie Sanders and after he was destroyed refused to fall in line for HER. We chose to vote for Jill Stein – and large numbers actually voted for Trump.

      We are taking a lot of sh!t for not having supported the Demoncrats as well.

      The videos that I have posted – Jimmy Dore, Tim Black, LTMB, and Lee Camp exemplify the alt Left.

      The alt/Left just like the alt/Right is tired of the status quo.

      2. The alt left is protesting in the streets big time. They don’t like Trump or Clinton.

        1. Those are not the Alt Left, even if there were such a thing. Those are a bunch of millennials many of whom were the ones who kept telling themselves and each other there’s no difference between Trump and Clinton. And sat on Mom’s basement couch playing video games with time came to get sober and vote.

      3. http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/11/11/a-call-for-resistance-in-dark-times/ “The lights are going out and the time to wake up from this nightmare is today. Forget depression, look ahead, get energized, read, build alternative public spheres, become guerrilla fighters. There are no guarantees in politics, but there is no politics that matters without hope, that is, educated hope.” Occasionally I read alt left websites like Counterpunch but am not alt left. They are calling for resistance.

        1. “They are calling for resistance”.
          A. Are there actual plans, tactics, etc. in this call for resistance?
          A “call for resistance” is pretty open-ended; truthfully, I don’t know what that means.
          B. What do they realisticly think they can accomplish IF they’ve arrived at a consensus on methods of resistance?
          From what I’ve seen so far, the resistance is mostly “venting”; a disjointed series of
          displaying frustration and temper tantrums.
          It remains to be seen IF there is a specific plan beyond a general call to resistance.
          If such a strategic plan develops, the next questions will be about specific goals, and the chances of achieving those objectives.
          It will be interesting to see how this all of this unfolds.

          1. tnash – so far the call for resistance is from MoveOn.org a George Soros funded organization. They have been tweeting out instructions. There doesn’t seem to be a real plan except disruption, right now.

            1. Paul Schulte and Swarthmoremom.
              ..
              -I actually expected Trump lose. One concern I had was that “militia” groups might be motivated to take more actions like the Oregon wildlife refuge occupation.
              ( Given that the defendants were all acquitted of virtually every charge, stepped up activity COULD happen no matter who the president is).
              SM Mom…..I think the pipeline protesters at “ground zero” were all cleared out of the way in late October.
              There were some shots fired and molotov cocktails, bottles, rocks etc.
              thrown at law enforcement, and c. 120 people were arrested.

      4. The anti- pipeline and anti-Trump forces have united and are protesting in Minneapolis.

  17. My first reaction is that folks may be reading too much into Maloney email. I took it to mean that the company wouldn’t tolerate any type of discriminatory behavior from it’s employees while they were at work. Most company’s have some type of similar policy. If it turns out that their idea of discriminatory behavior is having voted for Trump, then it’s a completely different situation.

  18. Taking political sides is too risky for businesses to engage in, especially when immersed in a highly charged political atmosphere that we have in the days surrounding any election.

    I read somewhere recently, I don’t have the person’s name immediately available for the purposes of just a comment, that as an investor he Shorts the stock of any company that engages in a social justice warrior campaign as a matter of corporate policy. His theory, in very simplified terms, is that it is a sign that a company is devoting too many resources into a political cause and it 1) takes away from growing the company, and 2) is a sign the company is in trouble and is desperately looking for ways to garner interest. Far more often than not his investment decisions have been correct and he made good money from this strategy.

    The strategy reminded me of the “Odd lot differential”. theory. The theory is that small investors only invest in stocks consisting of odd lots, such as 73 shares instead of large lots such as 1000 or 10000 shares which institutional and professional investors do. The theory is that the small investor is always wrong, so if a stock has a disproportionate number of small lot buys or sells, the small–always incorrect–investor is buying or selling the stock so do the opposite and you will make a better return.

  19. The answer is simple. reverse boycott. To this day I do not patronize Red Lobster, Jack In The Crack (Box) the current owners of Cingular (ATT), United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Cell Phones, Heinz, GMC, Holiday Inn (not Holiday Inn Express), and will certainly add Chik Fil A though there aren’t many around to boycott. No matter. Since becoming a permanent receiver of polls on a variety of subjects I’ve found a new way to add to that score. The bandaid among other things company whose spoke babe defaced a national monument is another. Many small drops of water change boulders to sand. My favorite is wasting the time of leftists at their information booths. I’m an equal opportunity sort of avenger. Circuit City is another one. It’s my way of giving back.

  20. Well, once again, the same question. Why is it the Democrats say and do one thing when Republicans do something, and do nothing when a Democrat does the same thing? Why, that doesn’t make any sense! That is neither consistent, nor logical. And once again, I post the same statement that I have posted about 60 times before:

    Expecting from, or trying to explain to, Democrats- “principles”, or “right vs. wrong”, or “rules”, or “logical consistency”, is like trying to explain to a bad, cheating, folding metal chair-using, wrestler why he didn’t win the WWF Belt fairly. He is simply not able to comprehend what you are complaining about.

    All he knows is, that he won the match and the belt! The fact that his girl friend jumped into the ring when the referee wasn’t looking, and whomped the good wrestler over the head with a folding metal chair, knocking him unconscious- – -well, really what difference at this point does that make??? After all, he won! He has the championship belt! Isn’t that all that matters???

    One day, this will seem obvious.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

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