Protests About Gay Tolerance Spark Wider Workplace Debate

Wall Street Journal ^ | 10-30-2002 | JAMES BANDLER

[schu]

Eastman Kodak Co.'s recent firing of an employee who criticized a company initiative on behalf of gay workers has touched off a rancorous debate between proponents of corporate diversity and free expression.

The dispute echoes recent ones at companies including AT&T Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. in which workers alleging they were disciplined for opposing policies advocating gay acceptance have sued, claiming violations of their rights to religious expression.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Reached at home, Mr. Szabo said he had applied for unemployment and was looking for another job. He declined to comment further, saying "this is all going to end up in court."

Absolutely! Good for him!

3 words come to mind: Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

[workerbee]

Gerard Meuchner, a Kodak spokesman, said Mr. Szabo wasn't dismissed for holding a particular opinion or belief, which he says Mr. Szabo could have expressed to supervisors or the human resources department without fear of recrimination. But he said Mr. Szabo erred by sending it as a mass-mailing. "In the company's view this act created the potential for a hostile work environment," he said.

Two things:

1. Sounds a bit intolerant to me, since the employee who disagrees with the policy isn't allowed to freely express that, only to "secretly" confide in a supervisor or HR manager. Who thinks he wouldn't have been forced to be attend "counseling" anyway?

2. Doesn't the mass mailing about the policy create a hostile environment for this employee, and all the others (majority, I'll bet) who disagree with it? How come there's no concern about them and their comfort level? (rhetorical question)

[RonF]

Yep. And decent-minded Americans have the right not to buy Kodak film.

Can't argue with that.

[RonF]

A corporation has the right to be wrong. They don't have a right to break the law. But here, the corporation will state that the reason this guy got fired was for unauthorized use of the company's E-mail system, and they have a right to do just that.

They can also claim that having a certain set of religious views is one thing, but using the E-mail system to promulgate them is entirely another thing, and again is against company policy.

You may think such statements are a screen for another agenda on the company's part. You may be right, but it's immaterial.

[Siobhan]

Thanks for the flag to this thread. I will send an e-mail to them forthwith>>>

[Siobhan]

Spot on.

[eastsider]

This latest article is gratifying. Kodak is taking some serious heat, thanks in part to Free Republic. That previous thread included a link to the Kodak web site where you can tell Mr. Blamphin what you think about Kodak's policies. Now the Wall Street Journal is publishing the fact that numerous emails were sent, telling Kodak that they would no longer buy Kodak's products. This is very serious business for the Kodak board.

BTTT

[Siobhan]

And decent-minded Americans have the right not to buy Kodak film.

Precisely. Buy Fuji.

[PLOM...NOT!]

I hate to say it, but Kodak probably will prevail in court, if not in the marketplace.....

Tell that to Disney.

[eastsider]

Buy Fuji.

From the Fuji Xerox Singapore website:

Our Values

Cultural Diversity

Respect individuals and different cultures
Learn from our diversity
Foster mutual trust and sensitivity to enrich society

Are we sure that Fuji is any better?

[Desdemona]

Are we sure that Fuji is any better?

Oh, so true. EVERY corp I've worked with has the same crap. That's why I refuse to work as a permanent employee.

[Siobhan]

Thanks, eastsider. I'm going to take only digital pictures and also take up my sketch pad and charcoals until I can investigate this some more.

[Maximilian]

Are we sure that Fuji is any better?

Possibly not. But I've worked for an Asian company, and their idea of "diversity" is people of different races, etc. This is a simple matter of survival for them as they compete in the world marketplace. That company had other problems, but there was absolutely no PC BS. Even in terms of racial quotas, etc., the mixed Asian/Caucasion workforce met all the federal guidelines, so they didn't even go overboard on that stuff.

They're too focused on making money to let anything distract them. I can't even begin to imagine having a "homo coming out day" at the Asian company I worked for. They weren't big on any kind of "day" of whatever kind if it meant taking away from work time.

[Maximilian]

Tell that to Disney.

On the previous thread, some posters claimed that Disney wasn't hurt by the Baptist (and to some extent Catholic) boycott. I demonstrated with their stock chart that they went into the tank big time, BEFORE the stock market bubble popped. At the time the boycott started, Eisner was making over $500 Million per year and Disney was the toast of the NYSE. Now their stock is back to where it was 10 years ago, which is much worse than even the NASDAQ. They got hit by 9/11, but it was only 1 small part of the steady decline. Here's the post with links to an article and stock chart: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/775065/posts?page=100#100

Disney and Kodak are not exceptions. Virtually all the most "gay-friendly" companies have lost billions for their shareholders in order to promote their twisted social agenda.

The others sharing top [gay] honors were Aetna, American Airlines, Apple Computers, Avaya, Intel, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Lucent Technologies, NCR, Nike, Replacements Ltd., Worldspan and Xerox.

JP Morgan, Lucent and Xerox were all recently mentioned in a TheStreet.com article as "deathwatch" companies to "go short terminally" i.e. they're headed quickly to zero. Avaya is also in the penny-stock range and of course the airlines are in danger of going bankrupt. Here's an article showing the list of stocks with the largest short-sell positions: Guess who tops the list? Xerox, followed by nearly all of our gay-friendly companies. Joining Xerox are Avaya (#3), Lucent (#7), and American Airlines (#11).
Trading the S&P's Terrible 2's

[tracer]

I meant that Kodak probably won't prevail in the marketplace.....

[tracer]

As a former employee of a Japanese company, I can attest to the fact that homosexuality is considered by Japanese managers to be anathema and is not even discussed or addressed directly.....

[eastsider]

[T]here was absolutely no PC BS.... I can't even begin to imagine having a "homo coming out day" at the Asian company I worked for.

I can understand an employee's being warned if he harasses a fellow employee about some off-site behavior that has no bearing on productivity, and even being fired if he continues the harassment.

What I don't understand is why, if the off-site behavior in question has no bearing on productivity, company time is expended asking the employees to support it.

[eastsider]

[H]omosexuality ... is not even discussed or addressed directly.

Which, IMO, is the way it should be.

Thank you both for the explanation of "diversity programs" in the Asian workplace.

[grumpster-dumpster]

"Cognizant of gay Americans' economic power and growing political clout, many companies are adopting diversity policies aimed at making their environments friendlier places for gay workers."

If you believe the statistics that claim homosexuals make-up about 3% of the population... I guess that means the other 97% of us have no economic power or political clout, we're just chopped liver.

Corporate American thinking at it's finest! < /sarcasm>.

[eastsider]

I'm grateful that my law firm doesn't have a "coming out" day, and has finally jettisoned the annual "Bring Your Daughters to Work" day.

About two years ago, one of the messengers in the mailroom chose to march in New York's "Pride" parade. Some of the guys he works with happened to see him, and ribbed him about it at work. Well, Mr. Q took umbrage and eventually took his harassment complaint to one of the "out" (and activist) partners. When the partner showed no interest, Mr. Q. quit!