Can it be true that UK mobile phone company Orange has suspended an employee, Inigo Wilson, for a non-work related entry on a blog? What seems to have caused offence is him making jokes in his ‘Lefty Lexicon’ such as:
Islamophobic – anyone who objects to having their transport blown up on the way to work
Unless there are other factors at play here (I will be see what I can find out), I am about to become an ex-Orange customer and will start urging others to do likewise. If Orange is concerned about one of their employees ‘upsetting customers’, well I think they need to be told that pursuing this course of action against Inigo Wilson, they are doing precisely that. I do not dispute their right to hire and fire whomsoever they wish, but I intent to try and make them suffer some economic consequences as a result if this is as egregious as it appears.
Update: I received an e-mail from Stuart Jackson at Orange telling me:
To clarify, the suspension of an employee is not intended to imply that the employee in question has done wrong. It is a neutral act that allows us to conduct a full investigation and reach a conclusion based on facts. I will gladly update you regarding the outcome of the investigation.
But as the ‘facts’ are not in dispute, that does not really answer my question, which was:
I am enquiring about why Orange has suspended its employee Inigo Wilson. It is indeed the company’s position that remarks made on an employee’s own time and wholly unrelated to his work, is grounds for action by the company? I ask this as if there are other factors at play here, I may then refrain from cancelling my Orange account.
The ‘facts’ are not the issue. The issue is why Orange feels it has to do anything about them. Frankly even requiring Mr. Wilson to ‘apologise and not do it again’ would be wholly unacceptable given that his off-the-clock non work related remarks should be none of Orange’s business and if they think otherwise, they can do without my business.
It has occured to me that the Conservaite site where the Lxicon first appeared may decide to take it down so I have copied it (with attribution) on my website where it can be extended as and when good additional definitions are produced
Perry, a lot of these so-called decision makers are extremely math challenged. They fail to realize that appeasing a minority irritates the majority and they and their businesses end up losers.
Right on Perry; me two.
Best regards
“Comments to this entry are closed.” Already? What a bummer. A useful, but clearly incomplete list. Needs at least one entry to describe people that can’t spell, but still post on websites. Sorry-assed loser? Sense of entitlement: American attitude, root of many of world’s problems. And how about something on grammar? Don’t have no gramma. Perhaps an aunt? Or in the case of the list’s author: Unemployed: Not burdened by paid employment. Well I fall into that category, but that’s by choice. The working class can kiss my ass… Intoxicated: Have you ever noticed how the third double whisky and soda tastes like beer? Residing for the summer here in the Japan Alps, in the shadow of an active volcano … WTF was that? We got bears, deer, monkeys, poisonous snakes and raccoons: And that was just at the mayor’s reception.
Meanwhile, another person with a grudge was getting all pissy-arsed about some more satire on BBC2.
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005660.htm
Sadly, Ms Malkin’s assertions about the context and content of the programme are wildly wide of the mark. She couldn’t even be bothered to do a quick fact check or investigating. What a piss-poor ‘journalist’ she is!
Would you say that this firing is a “disproportionate reponse”?
Hi Perry: thanks for this comment and your support.
I can assure you that ConservativeHome has no intention of removing Inigo’s amusing and penetrating post.
Best wishes,
Tim
Editor of ConservativeHome
Whoa, they fired Armando Iannucci over that? Dam, I thought it was a Positive Production Ltd. And on that bombshell…
http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/719
actually, he was sacked for a different reason. a ratner moment !
I thought he’d been suspended?
He’s been sacked already! Oy Vey.
Well what can you say, I read his stuff when someone flagged it in an earlier thread and found it amusing, and quite frankly, nothing that the Guardian would feel ashamed of using, in the silly season.
Ah but someone else above says it’s for Dissing Orange. Hmm Corporate spite ! different ball game.
However, whatever happened to constructive wittisism.
Sure James, everyone knows that if you say you’re being funny, nothing is offensive.
I’ve run into a number of companies that canned me after the found out what things I put online, starting with being fired by SYSTRA, USA, a subsidiary of the French National Railway, because they didn’t like a graphics page on my old personal website, that featured a lot of railroad animations I had made.
And of course, my blog is always an easy excuse for HR to can me before my probationary period is up… This isn’t anything new, but smart companies always come up with plausible deniability, such as when I was canned for performance 1 minute after receiving my quarterly performance bonus check…. duh…
I am disappointed at their human resources’ caving in to MPACUK pressure (they made up a letter on their forums and urged members to email/post the letter to Orange’s HR director) thus censuring an employee for expression of his personal views outside of the workplace. The problem therefore with MPAC that far from being this paragon of low-key moderate Islamism that they hope they portray they have indeed turned into something akin to one of their more shrill cousins who assail Israel, and any supporter of Israel, at any given opportunity while using bullyboy mailshot tactics against anyone who dare criticise their ‘religion of peace’. Don’t dump Orange for craven cowardice in the face of such assault but rather attack MPACUK in their forums for their cosmetic veneer of moderation.
Incidentally there is a MPACUK-organised meeting in Birmingham this weekend (19th August) where they will be extolling their virtues of,
The slight problem with that one is that the very first comment written is,
Moderate, eh?
That’s the way communism worked during the 1970’s-1980’s in Czechoslovakia. I remember it very well from my family.
People got fired for their political opinions, and anybody could have been spied by the omnipresent StB (State Security). If you were found “politically unreliable”, your job choices were drastically limited to low-paid menial jobs.
It’s important to note that in today’s Czech Republic no employer would dare to fire a worker for his blog or for his/her non-work-related public statements. This is just unthinkable.
They could send him on a reprogramming course instead and call it Clockwork Orange.
Would you find
Anti-Semite : Anyone who objects to the murdering of civilians by the Israeli army.
as funny ?
Maybe they fired Armando Iannucci because he isn’t funny?
As far as Orange. I sent off an email and got canned response. I am an Orange customer and like you Perry I am seriously reconsidering using them.
I think you misunderstand the issue… if Orange fired someone for writing that remark on their blog, in their own time, I would be just as annoyed at Orange. The content itself is not the issue but the mere fact that stating an opinion which is unrelated to work is what has me angry (stating “Orange sucks” on a blog strikes me as a perfectly reasonable excuse for Orange to fire someone… making an off-colour joke is not).
Steven Wood,
The only people who deserve to lose their job for not being funny are comedians. I very much doubt “having them rolling in the aisles” was ever in Mr Wilson’s job description.
What struck me were the comments by lefties who said they had written to Orange to complain, with the deliberate intention of trying to get him fired. I suppose it should come as no surprise that the left behaves with the pathetic spitefulness of children.
What’s horrifying is that some people *want* a world in which saying the “wrong” thing can get you fired and you have to censor your thoughts.
paul at August 18, 2006 12:31 AM
As far as I know the current situation is that he is suspended.
The MPACUK (Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK) started a campaign against Mr Wilson because of offence taken at his original Lefty Lexicon, a satirical parody on the way the Left have redefined language in order to constrain the boundaries of acceptable debate.
To be fair to MPACUK, opinion there seems to be divided as to whether they want him removed from post, or simply for him to apologise for offence caused. I find it humbling that at least one poster there shows far more concern for the future ability of Mr Wilson to provide for his family than many on ConHome here and here.
The blogosphere has, by and large, rallied to Mr Wilson’s defence, taking it as a freedom of speech issue. However, opinion is divided on Mr Wilson’s wisdom in making such a public statement in view of his job as a Community Relations Manager with Orange.
The problem for Mr Wilson is that when a PR person becomes the news, they are in trouble.
Perry – that’s the form response – I got the same one yesterday morning in response to my enquiry.
I am actually looking for a new mobile provider, as I am quite dissatisfied with my current one and my contract expires at the end of the month. Orange had a couple of tariffs that would have suited me well. But now they’re off my list.
Perhaps Orange should change its color to Green and rename itself Dhimmi Phone.
When in doubt in the UK try the independent VAR (value added reseller) tarriff operators that exist. These are enterprises such as Charles Porter, as one example, who work as independent resellers for Vodafone, O2 or Orange but offer a much more personalised and helpful service than you might get directly from the service provider. I use another O2 reseller who offers me a very significant reduction in rates from their standard tarriff (I pay £27.50 a month for 600 free minutes and 200 texts and I got an XDA IQ thrown in free of charge) and they run a very good helpline in addition to O2’s own support helpdesk.
This Lefty Lexicon is amazingly accurate. An example from the comments replying to the post about it:
“Critique – media, academia: same as ‘rebuttal’. When a Lefty alleges that someone’s writing is ‘riddled with factual inaccuracies’ then mysteriously fails to identify any.”
“Disproportionate – foreign affairs: Describes any act by USA or Israel.”
Well I think they’re funny.
This is NOT Wilson vs MPAC
The people who complained were simply using mpac’s forum. I know this because I am one of these muslims that Tim Montgomerie at ConservtiveHome calls an extremist muslim because I complained. Are we not allowed to complain if we are offended?
I am not a member of mpac. I visited their forum 5 days ago. I wrote a template email of complant about Mr Wilson and posted it and emailed it to other muslims. Hundreds of us complained and hardly any were from mpac. Muslims complained not mpac. Muslims.
And why did we complain? because we are fed up of racism and fed up of islamophobia. Here’s an example for those who may think there is no islamophobia or racism against us. Its happening every single day. Yesterday in the Sun, 17 August 2006, Kelvin Mackenzie said these vile things:
“Could the Muslims stop alienating me and, more importantly, trying to kill me?
“Let’s get one thing clear. The vast majority of this country have done nothing but welcome people to these shores no matter how evil their background and religion.”
“The suicide bombers come from one ethnic group.”
“Certainly I would like to see some young Muslims in this country restricted from flying to Pakistan. And if they did go they would have to wear electronic tags so that intelligence authorities would be able to keep track of them.”
What Inigo said offended us muslims not mpac. We just used their forum just like now im using yours.
“Could the Muslims stop alienating me and, more importantly, trying to kill me?”
Why is that vile? Seems perfectly reasonable to me.
“The suicide bombers come from one ethnic group.”
They actually come from one religious calling so inaccurate but far from vile.
Indeed you are. Just as I am allowed to complain to Orange if they actually act on your complaint, as that would offend my sensibilities.
I am just trying to make sure that the economic cost of offending Islamic sensibilities is not larger than the economic cost of offending people like me who think Orange should not allow such remarks made out of the workplace to be grounds for reproaching an employee.
No doubt. However I want Britain to be a place where we are free to offend the people we tolerate. I am quite willing to tolerate the practice of Islam, I am not willing to respect it however. Free free to reciprocate (in any way you wish on your own property, I might add).
Anonymous Muslim: “And why did we complain? because we are fed up of racism and fed up of islamophobia.”
The complaints about Muslims do not spring from racism nor Islamophobia but rather from Muslims expressing their faith through mass murder. Your attempt to shift the blame from your coreligionists insane hatred and violence to their victims renders you contemptible.
Stop killing people for your religion and these complaints will cease. It’s that simple.
Anonymous Muslim: “Here’s an example for those who may think there is no islamophobia or racism against us. Its happening every single day. Yesterday in the Sun, 17 August 2006, Kelvin Mackenzie said these vile things: “Could the Muslims stop alienating me and, more importantly, trying to kill me?”
This is hardly vile but rather a sardonic rebuttal to Muslim provocation. For Pete’s sake, Mr. Muslim, when the Danes published cartoons Muslims didn’t like, they went wild on an orgy of murder and destruction. By contrast, when Muslims slaughter trainloads of Brits and attempt to detonate a squadron of airliners departing Britain, Mr. MacKenzie responds with a quip. Quite frankly, your disproportionate response strikes me as rather obtuse. The Islamic campaign of terror makes Muslims richly deserving of ridicule at the very least.
Mackenzie: “Let’s get one thing clear. The vast majority of this country have done nothing but welcome people to these shores no matter how evil their background and religion. … The suicide bombers come from one ethnic group. … Certainly I would like to see some young Muslims in this country restricted from flying to Pakistan. And if they did go they would have to wear electronic tags so that intelligence authorities would be able to keep track of them.”
Anon Muslim: “What Inigo said offended us muslims not mpac. We just used their forum just like now im using yours.”
Savage Muslim barbarism offends us Westerners. You will never receive respect from us as long as you propagate your evil religion through murder. It is telling that you seek to solve this problem not by extirpating the terrorists among you but rather by suppressing criticism of them, as if Westerners have no right to object to being butchered by Muslim boms. This comes across as a rather obnoxious expression of Muslim supremacy, the idea that nothing Muslim can be criticized.
You are NOT using the forum as the source of your outrage does. He is making good use of free speech to shine light on a problem, ie Muslim violence. You, by contrast, are using the forum as a weapon to shut down free speech, particularly anything that is critical of Islam or Muslims. The original poster is a friend of free speech while you are an enemy of free speech by trying to harm those who criticize you. That may be acceptable in the Muslim world where free speech is scarce, reviled, and harshly punished, but it is unacceptable in the civilized world where free speech is a virtue.
Tantor
Suspension is not a neutral act, suspension is a threat.
Orange is just is making the usual threat making every
worker conform.
Via LGF
” Alhamdulillah a vigorous campaign by Muslim activists on the MPACUK Forum has resulted in a high-profile success. Mobile phone company Orange has suspended its Community Affairs Manager and launched an investigation following a flood of complaints from customers outraged at comments he made about Muslims and Palestinians on a Conservative Party Members Blog.
Inigo Wilson, Community Affairs Manager at Orange, sparked the controversy with his ‘satirical’ attempt to redefine words, including:
“Islamophobic – anyone who objects to having their transport blown up on the way to work.
“Palestinians – archetype ‘victims’ no matter how many teenagers they murder in bars and fast food outlets. Never responsible for anything they do – or done in their name – because of ‘root causes’ or ‘legitimate grievances’.”
We wonder whether he would have considered it appropriate to publish such ‘humorous’ definitions of ‘racism’ or ‘Jews’? Probably not. But if the Muslim community follow the example of those active Muslims taking part in this campaign then Islamophobia will become just as socially unacceptable as other forms of prejudice.
We welcome the fact that Orange has now taken their customers’ complaints seriously enough to investigate the matter and urge them to make it clear that Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism can’t be tolerated in the company.
Mash’Allah the empowered young Muslims on the MPACUK Forum have proved that when Muslims put the effort into simple, democratic campaigning it is Islamophobes who are on the back foot.”
——-
The only way to Orange to clean itself is to rule for the futur that outside political behaviour of their employees are none of their business.
And I really do have to comment on this… I agree that racism is moronic (and if you doubt that is what I think you have but to read my articles on Samizdata where I pour scorn on racism).
But Islamophobia is quite a different issue. Islam is not a race, it is a set of beliefs and therefore it is a choice and it is upon a person’s choices that you should judge them. And it is a choice I disagree with because I regard it as both irrational and intolerant by its very nature. So whilst I can join in condeming racism, I have no intention of being anything less that Islamophobic and proud of it. I reject all religion, do you not judge me upon my choice?
I must admit that I’ve become increasingly dissatisfied with Orange. My last contract renewal was very much a hard sell, Orange customer support is mediocre at the very best and I doubt my tariff is the most competitive out there.
However this thing really incensed me when I read it. When my contract expires next year I shall certainly be switching to another operator.
I have no opinion about Orange, but I’ll go with what Tantor said about the complaining. Nicely done.
Strangely Anonmouse and other offended Muslims chose email Wilson’s employer for a statement that Wilson had made in a private capacity on a privately owned website,why did they do that I wonder?
This could not have directly addressed the issue,it was certainly bound to cause trouble for Wilson at his place of employment,as of course it did.
Why did the complainants not contact the Conservatives,surely the proper authority to deal with the issue?
One last point,how much effort was put into finding out for whom Wilson worked?
A passage from the Ayatollah Khomeini, quoted in an 11th-grade Iranian schoolbook, is revealing. “I am decisively announcing to the whole world that if the world-devourers [i.e., the infidel powers] wish to stand against our religion, we will stand against their whole world and will not cease until the annihilation of all them. Either we all become free, or we will go to the greater freedom which is martyrdom. Either we shake one another’s hands in joy at the victory of Islam in the world, or all of us will turn to eternal life and martyrdom. In both cases, victory and success are ours.”
Anyone know where this Ayatollah Khomeini bloke works?
PK about 1970’s-1980’s in Czechoslovakia:
Actually a worker’s rights would be no better protected under libertarian capitalism (“The only fair trade is free trade”) where employment would be at will: the only difference is that it’s your employer not the state that holds that power over you. True, private employers are less likely to sack you but it still happens.
However you are free to disassociate yourself and withdraw your custom from Orange over this, just as other people are free to write in to demand his sacking – and Orange is not obliged to humour either party. That’s free trade.
I didn’t know red+white+black = Orange.
Sorry but that is preposterous. Moreover why the ‘libertarian’ prefix? Just ‘capitalism’ says it all.
A worker has no ‘right’ to a job, just a right to contract with a willing party for their labour (i.e. they own, and therefore may sell, their labour). Under communism the state owns the means of production and that includes your labour. So to talk of worker’s ‘rights’ under communism makes little sense. To work at a job the state says you can work at does not constitute a right.
Thanks for repeating (somewhat confusingly) what I said in my article.
Christians murder people and Muslims murder people.
But Jesus did not murder people (although he did overturn some tables in a dispute about the demand from Temple authorities for people to change their Roman money to Temple money at rigged exchange rates) and Mohammed did.
Mohammed was a very good military leader – but he did use his skills for conquest and did kill some people for not accepting the new religion he invented (although some others were taken as slaves instead).
Most Muslims do not regard saying “disrespectful” things about Mohammed as acceptable.
So we have problem.
In my youth (yes, I was young once) it was common for libertarians to attack the left for being inconsistent. The left were very supportive of free speech – but hostile to freedom to trade and engage in other voluntary interaction.
Now the left are consistent – but sadly they are consistent in the sense of being hostile to “economic” freedom AND hostile to free speech.
“Hate speech” – is basically any speech the left chooses not to like (comparing President Bush to Hitler is not “hate speech”).
As for “racism” if people want to make jokes about “hair mouths” (one of names for Europeans common among the tribes of less hairy people met in North America) saying we look like animals (or whatever) – that is up to them.
Also if people wish not to allow black people (or green people) into their shops that is up to them (although it would cost such bigots a lot of money and not just from the loss of trade from black people – I, and many other white people, would not shop at a “Whites Only” store).
As for Orange – yes if they sack a man for what he wrote on his own time, then I will be looking for another internet provider.
“I have no intention of being anything less that Islamophobic and proud of it.”
Hmm… as I understand it, the suffix phobia is defined as “an intense, abnormal, or illogical fear of a specified thing”
A dislike of a repugnant ideology such as Islam seems to me an entirely rational reaction and therefore, not a phobia.
Islamophobia is another of those words used to stifle dissenting voices.
I find Islam utterly abhorrent and vile. My reactions to it are based upon observation of its adherents behaviour and listening to the voices of its apologetics. I do not consider that I am an Islamophobe as there is nothing irrational about my distaste for this ideology of death, violence, misogyny and oppression.
Pedant mode off… 😉
apologists Damn!
My views may not be illogical (I would describe them as logical and rational) or abnormal (they are widely shared) but they are indeed intense.
Ah, but is an intense dislike sans the irrational fear a phobia? I would suggest that anyone expressing an intense dislike of a repugnant ideology is being entirely rational and therefore not suffering a phobia.
I’m nit picking, I know…
Mikey K
If there is only one employer (the state) and you lose your job, you’ve had it mate. In a capitalist economy there tends to be a choice, unless your skill is particularly esoteric, so you could always go and work for someone else. The difference is almost infinite.
I sent an email to a guy called Stuart Jackson at Orange, which another blog had posted as a possible contact. Surprisingly he replied:
“Thanks for your mail. To clarify, the suspension of an employee is not intended to imply that the employee in question has done wrong. It is a neutral act that allows us to conduct a full investigation and reach a conclusion based on facts. I will gladly update you regarding the outcome of the investigation.”
So not fired yet, but I wonder what exactly they have to investigate? After all what he wrote is freely available for all to see…