Posting an off-color joke on a website at work? You might want to think again.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 4:10pm

I find this to be absolutely flabbergasting.

In a nutshell, a question was posted on the St Louis Post Dispatch's online site, asking "what's the strangest things youve ever eaten?"

Someone, inevitably, answered with a five letter word that often precedes the word cat. The comment was deleted. A few hours later it appeared again.

The site's contributor and director of social media Kurt Greenbaum noticed the IP address the comment was posted from was a school. Mr Greenbaum contacted the school, which gave the school the heads up to check it out with their IT department. Long story short, the teacher who posted the comment was found and resigned (although my money is on the fact that it was a forced resignation).

So, I'm curious to know what people think about this. Did the dude cross a line? It should be noted the the Post-Dispatch's website is often rife with racist and homophobic comments, and there seems to be little, if any moderation, most of the time.


Post a vulgar comment while youre at work, lose your job

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 4:11pm

Here's a follow-up entry, where he continues to show that he just doesn't get it

Posted: 11/19/09 at 4:26pm

They can get you for wearing red shoes on a Thursday.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 4:26pm

I would imagine that at the very least it discourages anyone from posting comments on their site.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 4:29pm

It's hard to say. If the comment had come from a high school I may just have blown it off as a student. But what is this had been a middle school or an elementary school? Would I want someone who thinks this is funny teaching my kindergardener? Without all of the facts it's hard for me to make a judgement but I may have contacted the school.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 4:37pm

I don't think it matters what kind of school it is. I have a filthy mouth, but I know well enough not swear up a blue stream in front of a kid. I don't buy the "think of the children" argument.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 4:56pm

Un-freakin'-believable. Thanks for posting, Phyllis. I had not heard about this. That's actually a chilling story - and yet this guy continues to defend his actions? Forget about how he sleeps at night - how does he call himself a journalist?

Can you imagine if BWW did that?
Updated On: 11/19/09 at 04:56 PM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:09pm

I'm not quite sure I understand the hysteria that word aroused.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:12pm

He should have just deleted it again.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:12pm

Well, there's that as well.

Not to mention that as someone who used to live in St Louis and read that paper, the comments you'd find out the website (still can, actually) are just atrocious. St Louis is one of the racist cities I've ever seen and the commenters at STL Today prove it.

But for a guy - a journalist, no less - to what this guy did and feel no remorse over it is just stupifying.

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:19pm

It was a juvenile joke -- one the kids at the school probably would have made -- and I've certainly heard of teachers or school employees keeping their job after doing something worse.

My question is how do we know that guy isn't just making the whole thing up? (side note -- I can guarantee you that anyone who holds the title "director of social media" at a newspaper is loathed by any editorial employee born before 1980, and probably quite a few after 1980).

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:21pm

What would have to gain by making it up, do you think? Some comments suggested that as well. Just for controversy?

[StockardFan]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:23pm

I hadn't even thought of that.

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:25pm

That I couldn't say. It just seems a little too neatly presented to me. Firings, even under the guise of "forced resignations," don't usually happen that quickly, particularly to union employees. (though maybe it's some weird uberChristian private school, given that he uses the word "headmaster").
Updated On: 11/19/09 at 05:25 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:28pm

I assumed it was a private school because of that. And the forced resignation was my assumption.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:31pm

Now that you put it that way, it does seem weird that the guy would just automatically resign on the spot when confronted.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:36pm

Well - to play devil's advocate -

The guy gets found out. The company confronts him. He's clearly in violation of the company's IT policy (as a lot of us are at work every day!). They give him the option to leave of his own volition or to be fired, where he'll have that hanging over him at every job interview he goes to after that.

I'm not saying it's NOT a hoax (though if it is, this Greenbaum guy is an even bigger dbag than I thought), but I can see how it could have played out, if true.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:40pm

Yes, I guess if they gave him that option that probably would be what happened. Hell, I don't know what I think. LOL!

[Taryn]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 5:43pm

Can someone please think of the poor felines this man is consuming? DISGUSTING.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 6:01pm

Kitty says.....

" I eat it everyday, what's the big deal?"

Posted: 11/19/09 at 6:22pm

And then there's this: A woman running for suburban village trustee has sued and won the right to know the true identity of an online poster who made "deeply disturbing" comments about her in the comments section of a local newspaper's website. (That's HER description- the newspaper took down the comments soon after they were posted.)
She won the election, BTW

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 11/19/09 at 7:59pm

*applauds PRS*