By Stephen Bruce, PhD, PHR
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In our July 22 Epinion, we ran “What Can HR Managers Learn from Shirley Sherrod. Today, we share readers’ responses.
One reader thinks Ms. Sherrod “has a nice lawsuit on her hands.” Another wishes her boss had come to HR first. Read on for some interesting takes on the Sherrod situation. (Ms. Sherrod is the worker who was fired from the Department of Agriculture after a video on YouTube seemed to indicate that she held discriminatory views.)
‘They believe anything they see posted on YouTube’
“In response to your article about Shirley Sherrod, I find it troubling that they jumped to termination that quickly. More troubling is that they believe anything they see posted on YouTube. These are supposed to be high-level members of the Federal government and they don’t even have the sense to investigate the whole situation. There have certainly been enough cases in the media of videos and images not being true that they should have exercised more caution.”
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‘The person who should be terminated now is her boss’
“As a private employer I find it inexcusable that the Federal government mandates laws about wrongful termination and yet acts with such disregard for these same laws. The person who should be terminated now is her boss. He obviously lacks some basic skills regarding the management of employees. Her comments were hardly worthy of immediate termination. A little investigation would have gone a long way. Of course, who wouldn’t believe the media and You Tube??? I think Ms. Sherrod has a nice lawsuit on her hands if she decides to go that route.”
‘Listening to HR first is a better title’
“’What Can HR Managers Learn from Shirley Sherrod?’ is interesting, the title of it I am referring to. “What Top Leaders Can Learn from Shirley Sherrod, and by listening to HR First” is a better title.
“I’d bet $ that HR was told by Vilsack what he was about to do, end of story; or told by him after she was fired. Many organizations lack a structure where HR must be proactively involved in all terminations. Having seen this before, many jack-of-all-trade leaders that are masters of not much especially employment matters cause “Sherrod outcomes” weekly in the USA.”
‘Shame on Vilsack for acting before he knew the whole story’
“Shame on Vilsack for acting before he knew the whole story. Anyone with any common sense should know that there was more to the video than what was posted on You Tube, and he should have investigated it further before he acted. That poor woman suffered for his ignorance, and whoever posted it got a good laugh and a pat on the back for causing the trouble (and shame on them for doing it!!). Everyone is so quick to jump on the “discrimination” wagon when discrimination has nothing to do with it. The word “discrimination” should be removed from the dictionary.”
See what everyone’s talking about! Check out BLR’s remarkable everything-you-need-for-HR website, HR.BLR.com, at no cost or risk, and get a complimentary special report! Get more info.
‘The rest of the story.’
“This type of incident is presented to HR managers all the time. We get managers or employees who call or come in and tell a very convincing story and want HR to support some type of adverse action against an employee or a supervisor. Sometimes the case seems like a slam dunk, but upon further investigation, we learn what the late Paul Harvey called, ‘the rest of the story.’
“Employment actions taken without performing the basic due diligence beforehand almost always backfire. Perceptions of events are not always reality. You have to determine if the persons presenting information have any underlining ulterior motives and take care not to be used, inappropriately or unlawfully, as a means for them to accomplishment them.”
One reader wrote specifically about the advisability of Internet searches for employment purposes:
“This is my personal opinion: The answer is simple (rather … it should be): What else are you trying to find out/are curious about, when you start searching “twitterfacegoogleblogssocialnetsitesandwhatever.com” … that you would not otherwise be able to find out in a regular interview, basing your questions on Bona-Fide Occupational Qualifications? Do a thorough interview and reference check and if the person has the requisite skills and experience, that is all you need. Thanks for asking.”
And thanks to all our readers who responded.