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Trump Flags And Right Wing Memes At Simplisafe Warehouse

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John Bredehoft
•Dec 21, 2017
Bredemarket / Incode Technologies

A DigBoston article alleges that a toxic environment, replete with Pepe the Frog posters, exists at Simplisafe's warehouse in Charlestown. 

MACRO AGGRESSIONS: TRUMP FLAGS, RIGHT-WING MEMES LINE WALLS AT BOSTON COMPANY, WORKERS BE DAMNED

Excerpts:

Incendiary Pepe the Frog memes, printed out and hung around the office. A Trump Make America Great Again flag covering a large portion of a workspace wall. An image of Bernie Sanders with the word “Cuck” printed over his chest.

"These are some examples of the environment inside of home security firm SimpliSafe’s shipping warehouse in Charlestown. Photos provided to the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (BINJ) show a workspace rife with hard-right propaganda. And former workers at the facility say that their attempts to alert management to the problem went unanswered at best—and intentionally ignored at worst....

“'By itself, the Trump stuff isn’t enough to show a hostile work environment,' said Stefanie Scott Shah, a Texas-based lawyer specializing in employment law and litigation. 'But in the context of the white nationalist memes, it’s clear.'...

'I arrived to work early one day and saw that on my supervisor’s desk was a printout with 50-plus copies of the Pepe the frog meme holding a smoking gun that read ‘Goodnight Left Side,’' Politano said."

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JH
John Honovich
•Dec 21, 2017
IPVM

John, thanks for sharing. Note: I changed the title from "Toxic Environment at Simplisafe Warehouse?" to the more clear / factual "Trump Flags and Right Wing Memes At Simplisafe Warehouse". When I first read 'toxic' I thought it was literally referring to some type of chemicals or other hazardous substance, especially since it was in a warehouse.

I encourage people to look at the images on that article. Regardless of one's politics, it seems like a bad idea to literally poster them around the workplace.

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Avatar
John Bredehoft
•Dec 21, 2017
Bredemarket / Incode Technologies
In reply to John Honovich

John, thanks for changing the title. Especially when talking about warehouse environments, my original title could be misconstrued.

As Shah notes in the quote above, mere promotion of one political candidate over another is not in and of itself necessarily an issue (in many states, you can even be fired for your political views - it's not a protected class like race). But when someone leaves 50+ copies of a picture (any picture) with a gun on someone's desk, something's not right.

I have worked in very small companies, and in Fortune 500 companies. Perhaps very small companies may be ignorant of human resources policies, but Simplisafe is big enough that it should know better.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
•Dec 22, 2017

1. The Pepe image being cited automatically as a racist image is what hurts critics of Alt Right extremism. It never was when it was created and shouldn't automatically be considered to be such. This "cry racist" every time there is an unpopular view has unfortunately gotten to be cry wolf too often and makes suspect many such accusations. Is every Buddhist and Hindu temple with swatika's on them, a thousands of years old symbol, now to be considered racist temples?

2. That being said, sounds like at the very least SimpliSafe is being run by a real collection of jackasses and a-holes, and of course context is always important. Any extremism in the workplace, if can be proven was intended not just to promote a political view, but also an outcome dis-favorable or unwelcoming to a racial class, should be prosecuted. That should be mean any, Left or Right. Everyone should be free to have their own views, no matter how abhorrent they are, but what you do with them and how you act is what's important. And in the workplace it's just very bad business, period.

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U
Undisclosed #2
•Dec 22, 2017
IPVMU Certified
In reply to Undisclosed Manufacturer #1

The Pepe image being cited automatically as a racist image is what hurts critics of Alt Right extremism. It never was when it was created and shouldn't automatically be considered to be such.

Yes, apparently those days are gone when one could just print up and distribute a few dozen copies showing Pepe right after playfully shooting a “left side” adherent without people jumping to conclusions...

 

 

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
•Dec 26, 2017
In reply to Undisclosed #2

Yes, apparently those days are gone when one could just print up and distribute a few dozen copies showing Pepe right after playfully shooting a “left side” adherent without people jumping to conclusions...

Actually, gone seem to be the days of reading comprehension.

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U
Undisclosed #2
•Dec 26, 2017
IPVMU Certified
In reply to Undisclosed Manufacturer #1

Actually, gone seem to be the days of reading comprehension.

How so? 

Do you feel the use of Pepe here was innocent and being misconstrued?

Or are you saying that people often jump to conclusions, but not  in this case?

If it’s the latter, then you should re-examine your 1st point:

1. The Pepe image being cited automatically as a racist image is what hurts critics of Alt Right extremism...

since it would seem that you were talking about this instance, not generally, even after you obliquely concede “context” being important.

 

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #3
•Dec 23, 2017

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...and so it is with political statements.

Relax...chill out, and enjoy the holidays!

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