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Should this woman have been fired for tweeting about sexist remarks?

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Contributor: spiced spiced
Adria Richards, a computer industry professional, overheard comments she felt were sexist at a developer conference. She posted the comments, and photos of the men who made them — and was fired for doing so. One of the men who made the remarks was also fired. You can read all about it here: link

What do you think? Was she out of line to post the comments and the guys' pictures? Should she have been fired for it? Or, do you think she did the right thing?
Answers (private voting - your screen name will NOT appear in the results):
She was out of line. Her company was right to fire her.
12  (34%)
She did the right thing in highlighting sexist behavior. She should NOT have been fired.
8  (23%)
Other?
15  (43%)
Total votes: 35
Poll is closed
03/23/2013
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Contributor: evie.amor evie.amor
I don't know if she should have been fired but I don't think she should have tweeted about them and posted pictures of the men. The internet is a dangerous thing and can seriously effect people's lives. She should have gone to a superior.
03/23/2013
Contributor: FlashFuchsia FlashFuchsia
I agree. I think she overreacted. Even if they were actually joking about breasts and sex, it isn't okay to attempt to publicly humiliate a coworker. With that logic, it's perfectly okay to humiliate a female farmer for saying "big cocks" and "milking the bull" because they're sexist terms.
03/24/2013
Contributor: Virgingasms Virgingasms
I think she was wrong to post pictures of the men. Tweeting about hearing something isn't that big a deal, but putting pictures of someone online without their permission is out of line. It would have been more appropriate to tell someone in charge of the conference.
03/24/2013
Contributor: Gunsmoke Gunsmoke
I wish people were not so touchy - we don't need thought police or snooping neighbors. The whole thing strikes me as PC gone over the top.
03/24/2013
Contributor: bratcat bratcat
While i do think she should have seen a superior about the comments made before doing what she choose to do would have been a good first option, however its also very likely she would have been seen as being "too touchy." While posting photos may have been a little out of line, i understand why she did so, so inform other women about who and what these men are, and by doing so addressed or "highlight[ed] sexist behavior." I can see why the company fired her, but i dont really agree it was the right thing to (by firing her) do but i'm glad to see the company took some action and address the comments made by also firing one of those men.
03/24/2013
Contributor: Adriana Ravenlust Adriana Ravenlust
Quote:
Originally posted by bratcat
While i do think she should have seen a superior about the comments made before doing what she choose to do would have been a good first option, however its also very likely she would have been seen as being "too touchy." While posting ... more
I concur.
03/24/2013
Contributor: eri86 eri86
Quote:
Originally posted by evie.amor
I don't know if she should have been fired but I don't think she should have tweeted about them and posted pictures of the men. The internet is a dangerous thing and can seriously effect people's lives. She should have gone to a superior.
I agree.
03/24/2013
Contributor: js250 js250
I also agree.
03/24/2013
Contributor: Martiniman Martiniman
Quote:
Originally posted by evie.amor
I don't know if she should have been fired but I don't think she should have tweeted about them and posted pictures of the men. The internet is a dangerous thing and can seriously effect people's lives. She should have gone to a superior.
Agreed.
03/24/2013
Contributor: Ryuson Ryuson
(Review Program Mentor)
While they may have been a tad bit out of line, who hasn't made some kind of silly joke at work before, even if it's 'not allowed.' I think that she overreacted, but at the same time they were both slightly 'against the rules.'
03/24/2013
Contributor: GirlOnGirl GirlOnGirl
I don't think she should have been fired. Sexist remarks like that aren't okay and honestly in my opinion if you don't want people to find out about something you've said you probably shouldn't be saying it! Yes, a lot of people say things like that and they don't get caught but you have to be aware that there is the possibility that you might and that's a chance you're taking. It's also unrealistic to expect the person you're insulting to protect your reputation.

I think blaming her and firing her is just avoiding the issue, that the real problem for these men is not that she made public what they did, it's that THEY DID WHAT THEY DID. Each man only needed one person to behave differently to avoid this whole mess and that was himself.
03/24/2013
Contributor: spiced spiced
Quote:
Originally posted by GirlOnGirl
I don't think she should have been fired. Sexist remarks like that aren't okay and honestly in my opinion if you don't want people to find out about something you've said you probably shouldn't be saying it! Yes, a lot of people ... more
I tend to agree with you on this.

I think she was right to hold these guys up so people could see what they did. Personally, I think her mistake was doing it under her own name.

I know I'm in the minority on this, but I'm a big believer in anonymity, whenever possible. I'm afraid we may be heading toward another era like the 50s, with a lot of emphasis on (and scrutiny of) "permanent records", and the likelihood of McCarthy-esque witch hunts. Only this time around, no one will have to answer whether they "are now or have ever been" whatever — the inquisitors will simply pull the incriminating evidence off the Internet.
03/24/2013
Contributor: "G" "G"
tell her to get over herself...
03/24/2013
Contributor: hillys hillys
I don't think she should of been fired but I think she did over react a little.
03/24/2013
Contributor: ViVix ViVix
Quote:
Originally posted by spiced
Adria Richards, a computer industry professional, overheard comments she felt were sexist at a developer conference. She posted the comments, and photos of the men who made them — and was fired for doing so. One of the men who made the remarks was ... more
Maybe not fired, but it wasn't a professional way to deal with the situation.
03/25/2013
Contributor: karenm karenm
I don't know about fired, but I thought her reaction was very immature. Even if it were me and the remarks had been directed at me (and not about dongles) then I would've spoken directly with someone at the conference or sent an email. I would not have posted it on Twitter to make an example of them. That is an unprofessional thing to do.
03/25/2013
Contributor: Airen Wolf Airen Wolf
(EF Review Program Mentor)
Quote:
Originally posted by spiced
Adria Richards, a computer industry professional, overheard comments she felt were sexist at a developer conference. She posted the comments, and photos of the men who made them — and was fired for doing so. One of the men who made the remarks was ... more
She should have brought the remarks to the attention of the proper authorities in her company but posting the remarks was WAY out of line and if she had worked for me I'd have fired her.
03/25/2013
Contributor: BrittaniMaree BrittaniMaree
She was out of line. Her company was right to fire her.
03/25/2013
Contributor: Gleb Gleb
She was out of line. Her company was right to fire her.
03/25/2013
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
She has a history of being hysterical and over-reactive. She likes to kick up dust instead of going through the proper channels, she absolutely should have been fired.
03/25/2013
Contributor: Kirill Klyuchnik Kirill Klyuchnik
She was out of line. Her company was right to fire her.
03/25/2013
Contributor: Evgeny Kravtsov Evgeny Kravtsov
She was out of line. Her company was right to fire her.
03/25/2013
Contributor: peachmarie peachmarie
I think if it offended her and she made a tweet about it on her personal twitter account and didn't reference her company just left it vague to vent it would be ok. But she probably should have gone to HR if it really offended her.
04/01/2013
Contributor: gsfanatic gsfanatic
She should have pretty nasty consequences for her bad choices. Given that she didn't go through any of the procedures to deal with harassment, including basics like ask them to stop or talk to a conference staffer, publicly naming and shaming someone for making a dongle joke (which is tame enough for a Superbowl commercial).
Given that she's a PR professional, she should've known better than to escalate to such a major level.
Excellent summary of the mistakes on all sides
04/02/2013
Contributor: Cosmonaut Cosmonaut
Quote:
Originally posted by evie.amor
I don't know if she should have been fired but I don't think she should have tweeted about them and posted pictures of the men. The internet is a dangerous thing and can seriously effect people's lives. She should have gone to a superior.
Agreed.
04/03/2013