Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

University of Delaware Fires Part-Time Professor over Facebook Post

posted by martyb on Friday July 28 2017, @02:40PM   Printer-friendly
from the karma-gonna-get-ya dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The University of Delaware is cutting ties with a part-time professor who provoked a controversial firestorm for saying North Korea detainee Otto Warmbier "deserved" to die.

The Newark school said it will not re-hire Katherine Dettwyler, the adjunct faculty member who blasted the 22-year-old student as "young, white, rich, clueless" in a since-deleted Facebook post Tuesday.

source

The school's statement (pdf):

The comments of Katherine Dettwyler do not reflect the values or position of the University of Delaware. We condemn any and all messages that endorse hatred and convey insensitivity toward a tragic event such as the one that Otto Warmbier and his family suffered.

The University of Delaware values respect and civility and we are committed to global education and study abroad; therefore, we find these comments particularly distressing and inconsistent with our values. Our sympathies are with the Warmbier family.

Also at; CBS News.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
University of Delaware Fires Part-Time Professor over Facebook Post | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 77 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Friday July 28 2017, @11:02PM

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Friday July 28 2017, @11:02PM (#546026)

    If I had a company and one of my employees wrote something publicly like that, I'd fire their ass. Especially when their public profile clearly says they're an employee of my company: their public comments reflect publicly on my company. Any smart company will eliminate people who are PR disasters.

    Just up and fire them? No consideration for the value that this specific individual provides to your company? No consideration for the experience and hard work they put forth? If you are the higher up, no consideration that that this person might be, in a some part, the reason YOU have a job? All over some mindless spew on some retarded innernet web shite. (Hell, the freaking president spews crap on twatter and hasn't gotten fired... yet :P )

    Right. Employees are interchangeable like light bulbs. Sure just up and fire them. Bring in some new kid that can't actually deliver the product or service like the they could. Quietly hurt the entire moral of the department. And when your company has to close up shop you will probably take your golden parachute and be completely oblivious to the damage that you did.

    A smart company would mitigate the situation. The exact action? Depends on the situation. Warnings, marks on their record, take away their tweeter and facefook privileges, or just telling facebook readers that they just need to get over it? Firing? Hopefully only if it was the last straw in a larger situation.

    Sadly there aren't that many smart companies.

    The entire story boils down to some trite farce that sounds like "whaaaaa, someone said something on the Internet that I don't agree with!" :D

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2