GitHub's HR Head Resigns After Worker Fired Over Nazi Line

GitHub says employee can have his job back
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2021 2:54 PM CST
GitHub Sorry for Firing Worker Who Called Rioters 'Nazis'
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington.   (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Tech company GitHub says a Jewish worker who was fired for warning that Nazis were among the Capitol rioters can have his job back. The worker was fired from the Microsoft subsidiary on Jan. 8, two days after he posted a message on Slack directed to DC-area colleagues during the unrest that read "stay safe homies, Nazis are about," the Guardian reports. He was told he was terminated due to a "pattern of behavior that is not conducive to company policy." Chief Operating Officer Erica Brescia said in a blog post Sunday that after an outcry from employees, the company hired an outside investigator who found "significant errors of judgment and procedure" in the firing process. Brescia said the company's head of HR has "taken personal accountability and resigned."

"To the employee we wish to say publicly: we sincerely apologize," she said. Brescia said GitHub had "immediately reversed the decision to separate with the employee" and had contacted his representative, CNBC reports. In the blog post, Brescia and CEO Nat Friedman acknowledged that the mob had included "Nazis and white supremacists," adding: "Employees are free to express concerns about Nazis, antisemitism, white supremacy or any other form of discrimination or harassment in internal discussion." Before the company's apology, the worker told TechCrunch that he had been genuinely concerned about the safety of his colleagues and Jewish family members. The worker said he wasn't interested in getting his job back. (A rioter who wore a "Camp Auschwitz" shirt was arrested last week.)

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