When you read this news story about the Las Vegas employer who fired 22 of his employees—all because he claimed that President Obama’s reelection would result in higher taxes and costs for his business—tell me if your eyes roll in your head as mine have done each time I read this nonsense. He would have had my respect had this been a simple layoff due to financial burden, but the nonsense that spewed from his mouth leaves a bad taste in mine.
I need all of you to put on your critical thinking hats for a few moments and let’s look at several key points (not in any particular order)…
1) He asks to remain anonymous. Let’s see how long that lasts. Why even publicly announce what you have done? What does it change? How does it improve his situation or the employees he fired? How anonymous will he be if those employees choose to file a lawsuit, or just put his name out there?
It also makes me wonder, is this guy on the up-in-up or is this another made up story intended to ridicule our President and further divide our nation?
2) Why was it necessary for him to let reporters know that the majority of his employees are Hispanic? They are people—human beings like you and me, isn’t that enough? Now, if he’s hinting at their possible lack of documentation then he had a human resources issue long before ObamaCare. Beyond that, he’s sounding a tad racist. Makes you wonder.
3) He claims that he always puts his employees first but then says that now it’s time for him to put himself and family first, puhlease…his family has always been the number one priority—that is why he started the business, and built it from one person to more than 100, so that he could provide a better life for his family. He even mentioned how he would go without pay to make sure his employees were paid, well buddy, that’s what an entrepreneur does. Besides, when you got to that point financially you were already long past-due for an organizational reassessment, as you already had extremely too much money going out than was coming in.
If his employees were so important he wouldn’t be so crass in how he handled this situation. Some writers have commented that it sounds like he hasn’t been covering healthcare and other necessary provisions for these employees, and now he’s trying to cut down his size to fall under certain state and federal guidelines that would enforce employment healthcare coverage.
4) Why are his employees voting preferences relevant? Could it be that he fired the 22 employees because they admitted to voting for President Obama? Hmmmm…so any other employees are now forced to lie if they have any desire of keeping their job.
5) What the heck does the President’s reelection have to do with anything? Certain elements of the healthcare law wouldn’t go into effect until maybe mid-to-late 2013. What does that have to do with right now? It sounds more like this man was already having financial issues with his business and he needed to blame it on the President, and not his mismanagement and the fact that the economy hasn’t been too hot lately.
Had Mitt Romney been elected what does this man think would have been accomplished by January 2013 when he officially took office, and probably June 2013 when he maybe could have actually gotten some work done? How would any of that have positively impacted his business that he claims is suffering tremendously? How would Romney’s election positively impact this man’s financial position for November and December 2012? Wouldn’t he still need to lay off employees between now and early-2013? So once again, the election has absolutely nothing to do with his short-term issues.
6) Why fire the employees before the holidays? Once again, the President’s reelection has absolutely nothing to do with this. But it sounds good to a person who is blinded by ignorance. Oh that’s right, he said he wants to put his family first, so that means more Christmas gifts this year kids! But not for the 22 families who were abruptly terminated under false pretenses.
7) I feel the need to ask again, why be a coward and hide behind a reporter and use the President as a scapegoat? Oh that’s right, because he’s a coward.
Some of you may say, “Natasha this guy’s company is struggling and he saw added costs coming his way due to healthcare reform”.
Here’s the deal, this guy could have focused solely on the company’s financial burden and easily explained to his employees that:
“Times are tough and unfortunately there’s a strong possibility that I can’t afford to keep all of you on. I’m going to try to hold off until the first of the year, then hopefully the first phase will be to try to cut the hours of at least 20 of you to get back on budget, and then if that doesn’t work I will eventually have to start letting some of you go by the end of March. Please take this time to speak with your families and decide what is best for you, and whether this is the time for you to start looking for employment elsewhere. I will write letters of recommendation, and if possible provide you with referrals to other companies. This is a difficult decision for me and it hurts me to face the reality that I may not be able to keep all of you within our ‘family’. Please know that each of you are valued employees and I truly don’t want to let any of you go, but our company is truly struggling financially“.
This is what could have been said and done had this been about the company’s financial burden, and not the case of an employer who didn’t want to cover the gap in his employer-provided insurance, or a possible retaliation against Hispanic employees who voted for President Obama, or a person who needed a scapegoat to cover up his failings as the leader of his company.
Whatever the case, I don’t sympathize or empathize with this guy. Firing employees the day after an election based on the fact that the person he wanted in office didn’t win is cold-blooded. There was no dignity in what he did and said. He was and is cold, ignorant, and a coward. If the remaining employees don’t fear a lack of job security, they should. It may get worse.
Read the story from a local news station in Las Vegas, and then share your thoughts: http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2012/11/07/vegas-employer-obama-won-so-i-fired-22-employees/#
Copyright 2012. Natasha L. Foreman. All Rights Reserved. Paradigm Life.
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