Hootsuite employee fired after speaking out about company's ICE deal | Hacker News Reader

Hootsuite employee fired after speaking out about company's ICE deal

bc.ctvnews.ca

65 pointsfoofoo5524 comments

For context, this employee spoke out negatively against Hootsuite, her employer, for taking a contract with ICE that she objected to: https://twitter.com/samelaanderson/status/130891700743848345... Her Twitter thread has over 10,000 retweets.

I can respect someone taking the initiative to speak out against business choices they disagree with, but you can't openly start a social media campaign against your employer and expect to keep your job.

>but you can't openly start a social media campaign against your employer and expect to keep your job.

Provided 1. the information is public, 2. You do this on your own time, and 3. you do not reference your position as an employee in the context of your campaign, I really do not see why not.*

What is the point of freedom of political speech if your employer can trample all over it? How long until employers just mandate in contracts that all political speech must be cleared by HR?

*generally speaking of course, I did not read that twitter thread.

You should be able to expect it, and you should be able to keep it.

Tech employees, especially Canadian tech employees, must unionize.

The interesting bit is that Hootsuite is a B Corp: https://bcorporation.net/

> Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.

> Hootsuite issued a statement the next day announcing that it was backing out of the ICE contract.

Interesting way to split the difference.

Hootsuite has been the center of a bunch of controversies up here in Canada including illegally employing unpaid interns (and employing paid interns without offering relevant training). I don't understand how they've managed to keep hiring when the Vancouver market is so full of better alternatives.

It is considered among the most "fun" tech companies to work for in Vancouver. Its beautiful office, nap rooms, free Yoga and other exercise classes, meals, rooftop happy hours, as well as a general party culture. The lifestyle side of Hootsuite attracted young people and made them willing to take some of the lowest tech salaries in Vancouver. However, my latest litmus test on this was admittedly around two years ago: all of my friends who worked at Hootsuite have since moved onto other jobs, the core leadership has completely changed over the past couple years, and most early employees are now gone as well.

Human rights violations weren't a problem; only optics mattered. The contract was a boon initially, and only became a liability because of the media attention. Shameful but typical corporate behavior.

If you don't like a law enforcement agency, then work to elect officials that make the political change you want. Don't use cancel culture to enrage your tribe and shame everyone you disagree with.

edit:removal of inaccurate reference to McCarthyism.

Exactly. Last year I went on a date with this person. Her family immigrated to USA when she was 2 years old. Recently for some reason her family didn't get green card. Everyone had to leave USA. Her whole family is disbanded. Parents and siblings are living in different countries. She couldn't join her cousin's wedding because according to USA immigration officials "she has too much ties with USA". Her family was law-abiding, tax-paying and highly-educated. This begs the question. At what point do we care about people who don't have backing of the poiltical outrage machine?

This is not mere dislike of a law enforcement agency. ICE is keeping children in filthy conditions, conducting forced hysterectomies, knowingly deporting people who will be murdered on the other side, and imprisoning people in conditions where they will die from COVID-19. Any association with them whatsoever is anathema to any ethical human.

Perhaps I have a misunderstanding of the term McCarthyism but I fail to see how this can be classified as such.

I agree with your thesis and conclusion about electoral responsibility and cancel culture. However, isn't McCarthyism necessarily the use of spurious accusations to incite such tribal enragement, as opposed to the use of the proven claim of HootSuite actually having said ICE contract?

You are right, McCarthyism was the incorrect language to use. Thanks!

> I agree with your thesis and conclusion about electoral responsibility

How did resolve the "Canadians can't vote in the US" issue? I found it to be a bit of a showstopper.

Calling ICE a law enforcement agency is a generous interpretation..

How was this Canadian supposed to vote on American policy? She doesn't have that right. She exercised her right of free speech.

"hey this government agency is doing things that are abhorrent."

"wow no way let's cancel our contract with them"

You: OhMgees it's cancel culture.

Yeah I remember when the Montgomery Bus cancel culture thing happened. It didn't actually do anything because only voting works.

>work to elect officials that make the political change you want

Not sure how that is supposed to apply to people like the Canadian employee referenced in the article. Canadians don't exactly have much say in American elections.

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