I guess I’m a sucker for punishment. Or publicity. Or something.
I was just fired for blogging. Or, more specifically “divulging company secrets in a public space”. No details provided. My “severance” is what my pay would have been up until I left.
Sadly, it doesn’t include pager, so I’m out 2,000$ and it doesn’t extend my benefits so I can’t get the dental surgery I’d planned for next week.
I’m not sure if I should fight this. There isn’t a big enough precedent to know. Anyone know a good (cheap) lawyer I can talk to?
In the meantime… I feel like I’ve been in a car accident. I know it happened. I know what it means. But I have no idea what happened or what it means.
January 6th, 2005 at 5:08 am
[...] ex.php?p=13″> Fired for Blogging Jeremy Wright was fired for blogging. It’s sad to hear such news and I wish Jeremy the best. [...]
January 19th, 2005 at 3:43 pm
[...] too lazy to blog the internet — James @ 7:44 am All bloggers, from the recently fired-for-blogging Jeremy Wright to the image-concious (hence the changi [...]
January 6th, 2005 at 1:36 pm
[...] talents on ebay, has been sacked from his place of employement due to blogging, according to a post to his blog Wednesday. In the post he writes: “I was [...]
January 5th, 2005 at 10:02 am
All I can say >> Ouch
Don’t forget that every person who made it REAL BIG did have to go through low phases. Just think this to be one of them!
Good Luck!
January 5th, 2005 at 10:43 am
Fight it dude; “divulging company secrets in a public space” sounds very suspect… especially because of your role as an IT guy. It would be expected of you to have an online presence and discuss problems/ideas with other professionals, right?
Down with the man!
January 5th, 2005 at 10:50 am
Bites the big one, but as I’ve said to you a dozen times, you will do well on your own.
January 5th, 2005 at 11:06 am
I presume that this might simply be “it pisses us off that he does his own company, does it while working, possibly blogs while at work, possibly is not here 100%, what can we do against this?”
Of course this is just a guess, but it would be a very natural reaction.
January 5th, 2005 at 11:10 am
I don’t do my own company while working, nor do I blog much and I’m doing more than ever to be 100% here.
I’ll have more details on everything later today or maybe tomorrow.
January 5th, 2005 at 11:10 am
Can they just do that? Fire you on such vague grounds?
January 5th, 2005 at 11:11 am
Robert: Dunno, that’s why I’m hoping someone knows a labour lawyer… I’ve never sued anyone before, and I’m not really sure I want to now. But I do want to know my options.
January 5th, 2005 at 11:17 am
I didn’t say you do run your own company when working at your job, I don’t expect you to, but there is a difference between reality and imagined reality if I can put it like that.
So yes, in a sense I am saying that you could fight. Just think how much money it will cost, how much time you will use and if it is really worth it. $2000 less in your pocket and you are out now, free to do insideblogging, … try to think about whether this is really that bad for you. If fighting it is worth the stress.
And talk to a lawyer, so I will just shut up now
January 5th, 2005 at 11:18 am
Call the Hakes Miester he went through the exact same thing you did one year ago.
January 5th, 2005 at 11:29 am
Ouch. I hope you get you job back or maybe find an even better one :-/.
January 5th, 2005 at 11:29 am
Jeremy that is a bummer! You have probably heard of Diary of a >fired< Flight Attendant. Since her being fired from Delta and an ongoing lawsuit is now her life’s work, you might get some good info there.
Good Luck with everything!
Make lemonaide out of lemons.
January 5th, 2005 at 11:29 am
Jeremy: This sounds miserable.
FWIW, If you do decide to get legal advice, I’d consider getting at least two opinions and test them against each other. When I faced legal stress I slipped into the error of “trusting the expert” instead of testing the expertise.
Whatever happens, I hope you find a way to turn this to your advantage.
January 5th, 2005 at 11:31 am
oops…my link got messed up but it still works
January 5th, 2005 at 11:36 am
Clete, he doesn’t need a new job (correct me of I’m wrong, Jeremy). He had sent his letter of resignation and was going to be living off blogging. As it seems from this post, the only downsides is he doesn’t get the health care benefits (and that $2000).
Sucks nonetheless. I say fight it.
January 5th, 2005 at 11:45 am
Sorry to hear that, Jeremy!
It’s easy to imagine someone at your employer being bothered by something you posted – for example, all of the security-related stuff might make it look like you’re making information public that could be used by hackers.
(I say *look like* because I haven’t seen anything that would really be useful to a hacker, but sadly, people with your or my knowledge of network security probably aren’t the ones doing the firing.)
Nonetheless, it stinks and the fact that they won’t give you specifics stinks even more.
I say move on, don’t waste your time fighting it, put it behind you and get a head start on your consulting career.
And get a company to sponsor your dental surgery. It doesn’t sound as good as sponsoring your laptop, but I’ll bet someone will do it…
January 5th, 2005 at 11:46 am
Michael – come on now, how many people can he get sponsored? :p He’s going to be giving blogging out to anyone who can buy him anything he wants? He’s only got 2 arms!
January 5th, 2005 at 11:52 am
Jeremy Wright – I Was Just Fired for Blogging
Ensight – I Was Just Fired for Blogging – Jeremy is the latest victim of this growing trend. I always tell people to expect trouble if they talk about work online, but I still hate to see it happen.
January 5th, 2005 at 12:17 pm
I don’t know the labor laws in your area. They differ greatly from region to region. I’m sure you already know this link: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/home.shtml
If they gave you the reason of “divulging company secrets in a public space” they must justify why it constitutes as company secrets. If so, what damage has the company incurred because of your ‘neglectful divulgence’?
If I had to guess: they were looking for a reason to save money and hoping that since you were planning to leave it would not be worth you time or money to press the issue. Of course not knowing any of the fact it’s just a guess.
My last company skirted the law. It stinks dealing with a company that walks the line between legal and illegal.
Good luck with whatever course you choose. I hope you find a satisfying resolution in the end.
January 5th, 2005 at 12:25 pm
sorry man. pryers with your guys.
January 5th, 2005 at 12:26 pm
sorry man. pryers with you guys.
January 5th, 2005 at 12:39 pm
Jeremy, this plain sux! It sounds more like bitter feelings to me. I mean, you turned in notice and then they turn around and do this? Sounds very suspect. More like they want to get out of benefits owed you. I know you’ll land on your feet, and I’m sure everyone here feels the same, just yell if you need our help.
January 5th, 2005 at 1:49 pm
Ouch…now that sucks, but I’m confident that you’ll do just fine.
January 5th, 2005 at 1:53 pm
That’s terrible, but at the very least you’ve been setting up IB so there’s a “fallback” there. I can’t imagine what would have happened had you not been going with InsideBlogging. Good luck and let me know if you need help with anything.
January 5th, 2005 at 2:06 pm
Hi Jeremy, It’s a blow but not a knock-out. Stay on your feet and keep moving…and I’ll see what I can do to help
January 5th, 2005 at 2:15 pm
$2000 for a pager?!? Wow.
January 5th, 2005 at 2:27 pm
Is this a joke? Serious?
Move to Denmark and I’ll get you a promissing blogger-job-opportunity.
All the best – heads up….
Hans Henrik
January 5th, 2005 at 3:30 pm
Man, that sucks. I am looking here for colleagues who can actually Blog!
January 5th, 2005 at 3:49 pm
Sorry to hear this, Jeremy.
I’d echo some of the comments here – this could be a positive move, albeit enforced and not in a timing of your own choosing, but it could pave the way for you to really focus on some of the things you are good at and obviously enjoy a lot: Inside Blogging, for instance.
Having emerged from leaving my last company in October following their being acquired in mid 2004, I can tell you that (in my experience) radical workplace changes can have a mega silver lining, in many ways, in the apparent cloud!
January 5th, 2005 at 4:02 pm
On the other hand, you made job search history. Balls, brains, and initiative won’t leave you high and dry very long.
AJ
January 5th, 2005 at 4:12 pm
Did they tell you what specific posts of yours divulged their company secrets? Michael Gartenberg has posted some wise words on this sort of thing recently – if you’re blogging about your employer without their consent or knowledge, then you’re asking for trouble. I don’t know your situation though and I find it hard to believe you would divulge company “secrets” (??).
Best wishes for you and your family.
January 5th, 2005 at 5:03 pm
I am confident this won’t hurt you Jeremy, you’ve got a lot going for you. Having said that, sorry to hear about this
January 5th, 2005 at 5:41 pm
Damn. Are you sure you didn’t say “F*ck” somehwere?
Seriously, Jeremy, that’s major. Ask for a full explanation in writing. HR is obligated to show cause to you, even if it’s *only* to you and, by agreement, not for 3rd party dissemination. I’m winging here cuz our HR guru’s out with other gurus, but if we can help, email me.
best
mark
January 5th, 2005 at 5:58 pm
Jeremy I’ll add my condolences, thats certainly unreal. Unfortunate, as many companies do, they basically include a clause stating ‘we can fire you for whatever reason we’d like..’ but I hope theres a strong case for you. This is so shocking.. really.
January 5th, 2005 at 6:54 pm
You’ll have the last laugh!
January 5th, 2005 at 7:35 pm
In hindsight it will be the best thing that ever happened, but in the meantime you gotta get over the obstacles – good luck. I was dumped from my job in 2003, and lost out on severance pay, etc. My legal advice was that it wasn’t worth it to fight, just get on your feet and get even. That’s what I’m working on now as a free-agent.
Fired for divulging secrets, eh? As McLuhan said, “Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity.”
(Found out about this this through Fouro)
January 5th, 2005 at 7:38 pm
That sucks. But weren’t you planning on leaving this job anyways–or was that the last job?
If you haven’t divulged any secrets and this is a job that you want to keep with instead of moving on to bigger and better things, then I’d say you should most certainly fight it. Good luck if this is the choice you make.
January 5th, 2005 at 8:27 pm
I swear my trackbacks are getting lost somewhere…
my comments
January 5th, 2005 at 8:31 pm
Weird. I got the emails about the TB’s… Might be an issue with WP.
January 5th, 2005 at 9:50 pm
Jeremy Wright Fired for Blogging
Jeremy Wright was fired for blogging. This is likely the trend of 2005. I like Jeremy and as a fellow Canadian, this doesn’t surprise me. But I will hold my tongue on this topic. More here and here.
January 5th, 2005 at 11:12 pm
Jeremy got fired for blogging….when will this madness stop???
Bugger….It appears that Jeremy Wright of ensight.org (amongst other things) just got fired for blogging… No major details as of yet, but it sounds a bit strange to me, as i have never really noticed anything in Jeremy’s blog that would be consider…
January 5th, 2005 at 11:25 pm
Jeremy Wright dooced
This is one of those times that words can’t express everything. I really, really feel for Jeremy. He has a …
January 6th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Sorry to hear that. Are you in the U.S.? If so, you can pay to extend your medical benefits under CORBA. If not, I’m not sure what you can do. Legal fees can add up.
January 6th, 2005 at 12:05 am
that sucks man – that kind of news stings.
Sorry to hear it but don’t let it stop you. I remember the important lesson I learned in my first year of studying marketing – the challenge we face with threats is not what they can do to kill us but how we can actually turn them into opportunities. You might not feel like hearing this now – but in order for something to spring into new life it often has to die first – so after you’ve sat in the pain of this for a little bit let IT propel you into something even better.
January 6th, 2005 at 12:30 am
If you’re looking for legal advice, call your local law association/bar assocation. I know that in Canada, a provincial law association can direct you to a lawyer who will do a consultation for $10. I’ve done this in the past, and it’s a pretty easy way to get a quick opinion – you may even want to get a second opinion.
January 6th, 2005 at 4:02 am
Wright gets canned for Blogging
I was just fired for blogging. Or, more specifically “divulging company secrets in a public space”. No details provided. My “severance†is what my pay would have been up until I left.
Jeremy Wright who does ENSIGHT has just been fired from hi…
January 6th, 2005 at 4:45 am
If they’re gonna get you, they’re gonna get you.
If they want to keep you, they’ll keep you.
Do you want to work for a company and managers who do this to you. Do we want to do business with a company that behaves this way.
It used to be “expenses” that they got people with.
Times have moved on! It’s now blogging!
You join an elite group right now. Enjoy it!
I’m sure though you must have a lot of mixed emotions.
Good Luck in the future.
January 6th, 2005 at 7:36 am
High profile blogger sacked for blogging
Jeremy Wright of Ensight.org, a long term champion of the blogosphere, more recently famed for selling his blogging talents on ebay, has been sacked from his place of employement due to blogging, according to a post to his blog Wednesday.
In the p…