Posted on 10/21/2002 11:48:03 AM PDT by rochester
Rochester, NY - A Greece man, who was fired a few days ago from Eastman Kodak, said giving his opinion in an e-mail lead to his termination. Kodak's diversity group sent out an e-mail asking employees to "be supportive" of colleagues who choose to come out on Gay and Lesbian Coming-Out Day. Rolf Szabo replied to the memo telling the company not to send him this type of information and that he found it "disgusting and offensive."
"I said it and I meant it. I'm not going to take it back," Szabo said.
Although Szabo does not condone the gay lifestyle, he said this isn't a gay issue. Rather, he said, it's an issue of Kodak crossing the line via e-mail.
"I don't need this to do my job. It has nothing to do with gay. It could've been any other topic. It's just that enough is enough. We really don't need this to do our jobs," he said.
Szabo said Kodak wanted him to sign a letter admitting he was wrong. He said after he refused, he was fired. A Kodak spokesperson said Kodak won't comment about personnel issues, but did say that any issues related to the treatment of employees are universal.
Szabo, who had been with Kodak for 23 years working with metals, said he'll get legal advice whether his rights were violated.
Labor and Employment attorney Matt Fusco said that he thinks Szabo has very few options and no chance of winning a lawsuit because employers cannot discriminate.
"If an employer goes a step further and promote diversity--you have no right to oppose that policy," Fusco said.
"The Eastman Kodak Company gives me a paycheck; they don't own me. I'll go somewhere else for a paycheck, that's all," Szabo said.
Whether or not he ends up filing a lawsuit, Szabo said he will pursue the issue claiming Kodak is wrong for catering to a select group versus a larger Kodak community.
Fuji film works very well, and is a little cheaper than Kodak. I bought Kodak out of loyality to "Made in USA". I will be buying Fuji from now on.
Those homophobic bastards! Competing on the basis of product quality instead of political correctness is illegal. They should be prosecuted!
We were told that it was to be a place to hear about diversity and have our concerns aired. No notes were going to be taken and anything said in the session would remain there
It turned out that we had two 'minority presenters' in the session who spent a couple of hours laying out the Disney indoctrination of PC, which included a bunch of psychobabble feel-good nonsense.
Then they got into 'content' and started telling us that diversity extended to what we put on the air...
A hand shot up....
"So you mean we have to work diversity into what we put on the air?"
"Yes"
My hand went up...
"Okay, let's say we were developing 'Seinfeld'. We should work in blacks and Asians?"
"Yes, exactly!"
"Look, I'm married, Irish Catholic, raised in the suburbs. Seinfeld is about single New York Jews. It's damn funny. Why would we 'work in' blacks or Asians? It wouldn't be funny. It's not about them."
"It's about inclusion"
Needless to say, that exchange was repeated and was the talk of the office, and all the managers knew what was said and who said what. There was no 'closed door'.
I had a new job within a month, outside of Disney.
For the life of me, I do not understand what business it is of Eastman Kodak to encourage homosexuals to come out of the closet. This is insane behavior. What's next, take a Whitie to lunch day? What does this have to do with workforce performance?
If there had been a problem with people being mistreated, I could see a memo going out saying that abuse of homosexuals would not be tolerated. But a memo like this out of the blue strikes me as unnecessary and essentially trolling for problems.
Although Szabo does not condone the gay lifestyle, he said this isn't a gay issue. Rather, he said, it's an issue of Kodak crossing the line via e-mail.
I would agree. Out of the blue, why should employees be encouraged to support another, from the corporate or management level? Imagine a memo supporting another splinter group. How about, "Please be sure to support those who defend the second ammendment." I'm sure that would fly.
I doubt a suit is possible. Most employees have been demanded to sign a form acknowledging they could be terminated anytime management liked for no cause, always an endearing move by employers.
Go Fuji
Screw Kodak
Digital photography is more fun... not to mention cheaper.
And with 11 Megapixel imaging now commercially available, even large format film is going to have a tough time competing.
The pledge of the fasicistic left gaydeologists.
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