At least that’s true. It dates to coverage of Malaysia flight MH370, where many stupid things were said across the media in near-24 hour initial coverage.
And it’s far more defensible CNN chyron than this which almost makes me sympathetic for the Southwest baggage handlers who affixed a ‘fake news’ sticker to a CNN photojournalist’s luggage.
(HT: This classic reddit thread.)
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I don’t care what political affiliation the baggage handlers have, they should be fired for stupid stunts like that.
Fired? Really? Speaking as a former in house counsel that handled internal investigations of employee misconduct, I’m curious to know what standard you employ to characterize this as a dischargeable offense. Even if you could prove, with unassailable video evidence and a confession, who did it, what would be your standard for discharge? Customer insult? I agree it is a serious mistake, meriting real punishment and counseling, but it’s not difficult to list far more serious offenses that could more readily merit discharge. Even the baggage owner took less umbrage. Firing people is serious business and should not generally be presumed as the first choice except in the more egregious cases.
@Christian
I’m not a Trump supporter myself, but I bet you and many others wouldn’t say anything like that if it was something against Trump.
@JamesP – Look again. I didn’t say that I like CNN, I just said that stupid unprofessional antics like this deserve a firing. The same goes if they had pulled some similar stunt on a Fox crew. Unless your business directly involves politics, leave your political views at home.
In other news, a boat will sink if it isn’t watertight, a person will die if they don’t eat, plate will come apart if it’s broken, and a car will stop if it impacts a solid object.
Can someone elxplain the relation between the various sentences in this article?
@Greg, yes, it seems like, even by your own estimation, customer insult is a line that, when crossed, should lead to an employee’s dismissal.
Give me a break Greg, as you well know corporations crap people out and flush them whenever they want . Even in California.
@Greg – damaging a customer’s property should be an offense worth termination. Like it or not, the employee did just that. He could have put a “Hello Kitty” sticker and it would still be damage to customer’s property. In this highly polarized and divided society, stunts like this make it even worse. Yes, termination.
My company would fire an employee for doing these stickers. Damaging customer property is grounds for termination. It is stated in the employee handbook.