This is messed up

moe.ron · #1 06-02-2003, 10:15 AM

Employee sues over text message firing

Employee sues for unfair dismissal claiming he was fired by mobile phone text message

SYDNEY, Australia (AP)--U r fired.

A Sydney traffic controller sued his former employer for unfair dismissal Tuesday, claiming the he was sacked via mobile phone text message from a company director.

``Its (sic) official, you no longer work for JNI Traffic Control and u (sic) have forfided (sic) any arrangements made,'' read the message sent to John Eid in February, his lawyer Tom Earls told the industrial court.

``There was no justification,'' Earls told the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission. ``The lack of procedural fairness culminated in the undignified process of being terminated via an SMS (short message service) message.''

But JNI Traffic Control claimed Eid had in fact resigned, instead of the other way around.

He'd ``stated he would not work for JNI ever again and swore in colorful language, at length,'' said the company's lawyer Kathryn Dent. ``The SMS message that was sent the next day was an acceptance of a resignation.''

Commissioner Elizabeth Bishop warned about the dangers of using modern technology in the workplace, saying the text message should not have been sent regardless of whether Eid had resigned or was fired.

E-mails, text messages and answering machines were inappropriate for important official business communication, she said.

``What happened to the old-fashioned letter or talking to someone in person?'' Bishop asked.

She then ordered JNI Traffic Control and Eid to attempt to reconcile in a private session.
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This is so messed up. I would definately kick some major ass if anybody don't have the guts to tell me in my face that I'm fired.

CatStarESP4 · #2 06-02-2003, 05:19 PM

That is f***ing insane. What were they thinking? Were they scared of firing the guy face-to-face? I would have preferred getting fired the old fashioned way - in person. This text messaging method is too impersonal and way too stupid? What is this world coming to?

moe.ron · #3 06-03-2003, 05:10 AM

I saw on BBC about a company that was reducing their workforce. They send all their employee an sms telling them that if they didn't hear from them, they are retrench. That is really messed up. They interviewed some people and lot of them were distraught and couple of them were really angry.

aephi alum · #4 06-03-2003, 09:21 AM

That's cold.

I had a boyfriend once who broke up with me by IM because he was too cowardly to talk to me face to face. I wonder if maybe he's a manager at one of these companies now...

valkyrie · #5 06-03-2003, 01:40 PM

``Its (sic) official, you no longer work for JNI Traffic Control and u (sic) have forfided (sic) any arrangements made,'' read the message sent to John Eid in February, his lawyer Tom Earls told the industrial court.

Yikes. If that's their idea of grammar, I don't think they deserve to have any employees.