I should mention Joe Gordon, the employee of an Edinburgh branch of Waterstone’s who got sacked for blogging, after 11 years of service. I was in the university library when I first read about it, so never blogged about it then, but it merits a mention anyway.
What’s interesting is just how big the story has become. If Waterstone’s sacked Joe Gordon because they were worried that he was showing the store in a bad light, then it has to be said their plan somewhat backfired. Bad publicity ahoy! I’m a bit more reluctant to shop in Waterstone’s now. It might be Amazon all the time for me from now on.
I would say it is quite unwise to complain about your job so publicly though. I can imagine it’s tempting, but it’s a risky one, isn’t it? Especially if, like me, you’re not anonymous. I have complained about university in the past, though I don’t really do that any more – only in a sort of “pah, what a crap day” sort of way, not a “pah, what a crap university” way.
I originally discovered this via Boing Boing, but it’s all over the shop now. Guardian Unlimited’s Newsblog has a good post about it.
Will
12 January 2005 11:37
#1
I feel a bit sorry for him, in that sacking him was a bit extreme, but it seems reasonable to take disciplinary action. The Guardian quoted someone saying that it was like sacking someone for a conversation in a pub, but a blog is more comparable, I’d argue, to a public speech or a newspaper article in its publicness and permanency and I’d expect a serious ticking off if I slagged off my employer on my blog.
christine
12 January 2005 19:45
#2
look up waterstones on the net. Gues which other company theya re working with
doctorvee
12 January 2005 20:07
#3
Hahah… oh dear.
No geek is an island » Blog Archive » Napier University is an excellent place to work
31 March 2005 23:01
#4
[...] 8217;s Guardian. I shan’t repeat my thoughts here as I’ve already commented on doctorvee’s blog. Instead, since the Guardian article, “Blogger sacked for sounding off&# [...]