Nasty Racist Republican email nearly cost me my job today....

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Here's the email:

Question: How do you tell the difference between

Democrats, Republicans And Southern Republicans?



The answer can be found by posing the following question:



You're walking down a deserted street with your wife

and two small children. Suddenly, an Islamic Terrorist

with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes

with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises

the knife, and charges at you. You are carrying a



Glock cal 40, and you are an expert shot. You have

mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.



What do you do?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Democrat's Answer:



Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!



Does the man look poor! Or oppressed?



Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire

him to attack?



Could we run away?



What does my wife think?



What about the kids?



Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock

the knife out of his hand?



What does the law say about this situation?



Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it?



Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind

of message does this send to society and to my children?



Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?



Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be

content just to wound me?



If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my

family get away while he was stabbing me?



Should I call 9-1-1?



Why is this street so deserted?



We need to raise taxes, have a paint and weed day

and make this happier, healthier street that would

discourage such behavior.



This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with

some friends for few days and try to come to a consensus.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Republican's Answer:



BANG!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Southern Republican's Answer:



BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

BANG! click.....(sounds of reloading).



BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

BANG! click



Daughter: "Nice grouping, Daddy! Were those the

Winchester Silver Tips or Hollow Points that I bought you for your birthday?"





I find this racist, pro-violence and to fall into the realm of personal harassment and attack as my political/religious beliefs are well known by the sender and this was sent to me unsolicited at work.

I replied to the sender: If you find the idea of killing brown people as fun or even funny, I would suggest a different career: (Link to US Army enlistment page).

As I am the CEO's son, this answer upset the sender who went to the HR manager to complain, who went to the CEO who called me in to suggest I apologies which I refused to do. It got heated and I am afraid is not over as there are a hell of a lot more Faux News junkies than Democrats working here.

To make matters worse, there seems to be a pattern of bias toward known Democratic employees by the HR director.

Any legal legs or suggestions on how to handle this?

[stanwyck]

1. The sender is clearly at fault

and no respectable HR dept. should let this kind of hateful email slide by without reprimand.
You acted appropriately.
I admire your fortitude. Well done.

[northzax]

12. you should not have responded to him

you can't win this fight, don't sink to his level. Simply reply, "I am not interested in your emails, which I find offensive. refrain from sending me any more." and cc HR.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

16. You are right. I should have, but I was really angry on receipt of the

email. Too late.

[northzax]

17. such is the problem with email

easy to allow emotion to get in the way of reason. I feel you. :hi:

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

21. Thx... There's a part of me that feels like an idiot for replying the way

I did. I did end the reply with "Please don't send me any more racist email" but, I acted a bit childishly in wanting to hurt back.

God, it sux being a Dem and actually trying to be socially responsible all the way around. (LOL)

:toast:

[FreedomAngel82]

25. Exactly

Shouldn't the sender be working instead of harassing people?

[Career Prole]

2. The repuke employees are sending redneck jokes

using the company's e-mail system? Where I work playing with company e-mail isn't allowed.
Keeps this kind of crap from happening.
Personally, I like the way you handled it. Hopefully there are rules about joke e-mailings in place already and you can play that card.

[MnFats]

3. get medieval on their asses.

but seriously, can the CEO's kid file a lawsuit?
that might be a novel approach...

[elehhhhna]

4. You're the CEO's son? Why didn't you show her the offensive email?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

34. The CEO did not see it until after the meeting....

Things were tense all day after that, but nothing was said.

Pride is an over-rated thing. It usually hurts more than helps.

[TrueAmerican]

5. Sounds like you may be the racists

Where did it mention in the email that the Islamic Terrorist was "brown"?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

14. It doesn't but the sender has verbally stated his distaste for people of

color many times. I guess I should have mentioned that.

[leftofthedial]

6. lawsuit time baby!

ch-ching! hostile workplace.

[PurpleChez]

7. I have no legal expertise but I send my support.

I've never actually been oppressed because of my liberal dem status but there have been plenty of times when I've been treated as a curiosity by folks who'd thought that the entire world was republican baptist.

[troubleinwinter]

8. Why are nonwork-related emails permitted within the company?????

Company needs a policy immediately that computers and email are to be used for business purposes only.

[jody]

9. The email may be workplace harassment . Given the polarization along

political lines, you seem to have a legitimate reason to ask the HR manager to consider including such things as the email as workplace harassment if it is not already there.

Your company is supposed to have a policy on workplace harassment. Suggest you find out what it says.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

22. Sounds like solid advice, Jody.

:toast:

[NI4NI]

10. Did the HR or your CEO

see your reply and did you see the message sent to the HR? Or is the HR only relying on what the nitwit nutjob stated in his complaint?
Can hate mail be considered as hate speech?

[Al-CIAda]

11. The sender is at fault. You have him dead to write.

'bang'.

:evilgrin:

[truebrit71]

13. The solution is very simple...

Have the CEO fire the (obviously stupid) HR director and make YOU head of HR. Then fire anyone that uses the company's e-mail to forward non-work related e-mails around.

From a legal standpoint the HR director and the moran that sent the e-mail don't have a leg to stand on. I am amazed that the CEO didn't tell the HR director to go take a flying fuck at the moon the moment this was brought up....

[billbuckhead]

24. Believe it or not , I've done this several times, use this as a pretext

to get a better job. Sometimes necessity forces moving up in the company to protect yourself. Especially if you have the law and good business practices on your side. Unsolicited non business and controversial e-mails are a no-no at well run companies.

[otohara]

26. Ummm....Telling The HR Director to Take A Flying Fuck

isn't good advice nor a solution, it's more fuel for the fire. HR directors have way lots of power in today's work force.

Hopefully over the weekend, all will calm down. I would suggest an end to "political e-mails" since Bush, it's all gotten so ugly. Pitting families against families, workers vs workers....it's ugly out there.

[Trajan]

35. He said the CEO could tell him that ....

NOT the thread poster ...

As much 'power' as this schmuck is perceived to have by you. the CEO has infinitely MORE power, and is, futhermore, the father of the oppressed thread poster ...

Our man seeks a fair remedy ... Daddy is CEO .. Daddy can fire him, and not say a damned word ... > so: WHO has lots of power ?

[Frances]

15. This is what I would do

I would apologize for answering a personal email. Then I would suggest to the CEO that sending and responding to personal emails on company time is a waste of company money. It would be best if the company had a policy against all persoanl emails on company time. The management shouldn't be paying people to goof off when the employees should be working.

If that tack doesn't work, I would suggest that no political messages be sent as they are divisive and any company is better off when the employees work together to make the company as successful as possible.

I think that if you show you have the best interests of the company in mind, you will be more successful in stopping what amounts to political harassment.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

28. More excellent advise. This is one of the things I love about DU.

Clear heads and sound logic usually prevails.

:toast:

[radwriter0555]

39. I agree completely. Use this situation to develop a company policy of not

using the company's email system to send around emails of this nature. You can find excellent examples of sound corporate policy on this specific issue.

Use it as a tool to grow and advance progressive policies! This is just one quick example http://www.email-policy.com/

"...Prohibited content: The policy should expressly state that the email system is not to be used for the creation or distribution of any offensive, or disruptive messages, including messages containing offensive comments about race, gender, age, sexual orientation, pornography, religious or political beliefs, national origin or disability. State that employees who receive any emails with this content should report the matter to their supervisor immediately. Moreover, employees should not use email to discuss competitors, potential acquisitions or mergers or to give their opinion about another firm. Unlawful messages, such as copyright infringing emails should also be prohibited. Include examples and clear measures taken when these rules are breached..."

It's all about educating the ignorant and uninformed!

[Frances]

40. Thanks for the link

It's always better for the company itself if the policies are clear and then are enforced fairly. What's funny to one person is not funny to another one. (Certainly this "joke" wasn't funny to me.) But the example you gave explicitly prohibits messages about political beliefs.

When my husband was in the Navy many years ago, he was taught never to bring up politics, religion, or wives (it was wives back then) in any military conversation.

Back in the 80s, my boss told my co-workers that he never discussed politics at the office. Looking back, I think he made a wise decision.

[CTLawGuy]

18. this letter proves

that Republicans don't think.

the Democrat thinks but the Republican just does.


"What would the law say?"

So wait, the Republic Party doesn't believe in the law? I knew that.

[Check12]

19. Republican response is more likely this...

Ohh please don't kill me mr. terrorist!
I am so afraid of you and the 'war on terror' that I just pissed my right wing pants.
George Bush, please, please, come save me from the axis of evil man.
You can bug my phone, piss on my constitution, take away every single right my fore fathers fought and died for!
Just please make this bad man go away! Please daddy bush!

I can't stand up and fight for my rights as an american, because I am too scared of the brown man with his shiny boxcutter!
Pat Robertson.. save me with your pipeline to god, smite the evil man with god's sword of christian justice..

[stanwyck]

20. Post his email on the fridge

in the company breakroom. Shine the light on the cockroach.

[qanda]

23. I don't know if you did the right thing by responding to the email

But I'm glad that you didn't apologiz. I guess the sender underestimated the resolve of a Democrat afterall.

[Yollam]

27. Sending right-wing e-mails at work is unprofessional.

So is sending left-wing ones. With the exception of union organizing activities, I don't think on-the-clock at work is an appropriate venue for political grandstanding, period.

[DemBones DemBones]

29. I suppose it's good that the CEO doesn't show

favoritism toward his/her son, but it seems to me that if you have to apologize, the sender of the e-mail should also have to apologize, on the "He started it" principle.

[Arkana]

30. I would have to disagree.

The Democrat, because he has probably kept healthy, fit, and prepared, has already jumped the terrorist, removed the knife from his hands, and pinned him to the ground with a combination of karate and judo. The police come, they take the terrorist away, and that's that.

The Republican has pissed his pants with fear, because he is only 14 years old and this is the first time his mommy has let him out after dark after she unglued him from his dried sweat-and-semen prison.

The Southern Republican is too busy trying to fuck his pet goat to notice, and gets his head blown off a la Resident Evil and the zombies.

[mitchum]

37. LOL!

nicely done :)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

31. There is an HR difference there that put him on better footing, kinda.

First off, I think his email was 100% inappropriate.

Having that said, I think what some of the problem may have been was that his email was to him a joke, while your reply was not. But more importantly, though he knew your political affiliation, that would still make the email an indirect attack, while your reply was a direct personal attack. There is a distinct difference there from an HR point of view, believe me. I've been caught in that trap myself.

If there is an indirect attack towards you and you feel the that you can't avoid responding, match it with another indirect attack of equal footing. In this case may have been like adding on to the email "Republican Response: I think killing brown people is funny, I think I'm going to change careers and apply here: (attack link)" That would be equal in my opinion. If there is a direct attack towards you always immediately forward it to the appropriate authority there, but NEVER send a direct attack in response, ever.

Lastly, though it may be unbelievably tempting to reply sometimes, even if done in the indirect scenario, it is ALWAYS better to not respond at all, and if you are bothered make your feelings known to the appropriate authority. That way there is a trail, and if the situation keeps repeating you can prove workplace harrassment, while holding the superiors accountable for not diffusing the situation.

[sendero]

32. It's also an erroneous stereotype...

... as I am a dedicated liberal and I own a Glock .40 myself :) Among many other firearms, and believe me I'll shoot.

[wrate]

33. Well, at least your answer proved his joke to be wrong. n/t

[Minnesota_Lib]

36. Correct answer: only a republican would be enough of a dumbshit...

bring his family with small children out walking in a deserted and dangerous area at night.

Dems are too smart and responsible for that. ;-)

[Raine]

38. This kind of stuff has no

place on a computer that is for doing business anyway.

[One_Life_To_Give]

41. Southerners Can't Shoot Straight?

Personnaly I would of suggested that if Southern Repugs have such a problem. Maybe they could get the Pink Pistols to come teach them how to shoot.

[Blue_Tires]

42. he left out the part

where the southern repub molests his own daughter afterwards (and yes, i CAN make this joke because i am from the south)