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GitHub Inc. apologized yesterday for the dismissal of a Jewish employee who urged colleagues to “stay safe” and avoid “Nazis” on the day when a mob incited by President Trump stormed the US capital. GitHub said it was “reversing the decision” and said it was trying to hire the employee back.
“Stay safe friends, Nazis are over,” the employee, whose identity has not yet been revealed, wrote in an internal Slack chat room on January 6. He was fired two days later after a colleague quickly criticized the employee. for the use of divisive rhetoric, Business Insider reported last week.
“I did not know that as a Jew it would be so polarizing to say this word,” the former employee wrote in a Slack group for Jewish employees shortly “before his corporate accounts were deactivated,” Business Insider wrote . The former employee “is Jewish and had a family that died in the Holocaust,” the article reads.
The former employee told Business Insider that he sent the message in Slack because he ‘was afraid of people who were there [in DC]He also said that GitHub’s human resources quoted unspecified “behavioral patterns” when he fired him, and that he wanted to seek more details about the reason for his termination.
About 200 employees signed an internal letter protesting the firing, Business Insider writes. GitHub employees also say ‘repeatedly’ Nazi ‘in Slack regarding the rioters of the American Capitol, to protest about what is considered an unfair treatment,’ according to The Verge.
GitHub’s apology
GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft, announced yesterday that it has “reversed the decision to divorce the employee and is in communication with his representative.” GitHub said the turnaround came after he hired an outside investigator to conduct an independent investigation. “The ‘investigation has given rise to significant errors of judgment and procedure’ and the head of the company’s human resources ‘has taken personal responsibility and resigned from GitHub,’ writes Erica Brescia, CEO of GitHub. (TechCrunch has identified HR executive as Gia Colosi.)
“To the employee we want to say in public: we apologize,” Brescia wrote.
We asked GitHub today if it could appoint the fired employee and / or reach a settlement with him, and we will update this article if we get an answer.
GitHub also condemned the crowd, saying: “It was horrible to watch a violent crowd, including Nazis and white supremacists, attack the US capital last week.” Although GitHub has apologized for the dismissal of the employee, the company also said that employees should be “respectful” and “professional” when discussing the subject and similar internally.
“Employees are free to express their concerns about Nazis, anti – Semitism, white supremacy or any other form of discrimination or harassment in internal discussions,” GitHub said. “We expect all employees to be respectful, professional and to follow GitHub’s discrimination and harassment policies.”
The sacked employee spoke to TechCrunch last week before GitHub announced its decision to stop the shooting. The man ‘says that he is currently seeking advice to ensure his family is protected, as well as to find out if he can receive damages or another form of reconciliation’ and that he ‘is waiting to enter into discussions with the company until he legal representative is in place, “TechCrunch wrote.
The sacked employee said he was also threatened with dismissal in October when he complained about a lack of diversity in the GitHub leadership. ‘I feel this could be an opportunity for GitHub to really purge and say,’ Do we want white rulers at this company and how do we get black leaders into executive management? he told TechCrunch.