Is it OK to fire a staff member over politics?

[TomSlick]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Emile (a host of the The DU Lounge forum).

I asked my assistant if she was going to watch the debate. She allowed that she doesn't like either candidate and that VP Harris would just be another Biden. (She couldn't tell me what she has against Biden.) She just can't decide whether to vote for a felon or a prosecutor. She is convinced the economy is in the toilet and that Trump will fix it - history to the contrary notwithstanding. (I've tried in the past to explain tariffs to her without success.)

I can't figure how she remembers to breath. She is surely too damned stupid to work in a law office.

However, I don't like seeing Democrats fired for their politics and there is the Golden Rule to consider. But the stupid - it burns!

[SheltieLover]

1. Hi Tom

So sorry to hear you have such a moron in your work environment.

[jmbar2]

2. Think of her as a candidate for conversion

Once he loses, she may be redeemable.

[Moostache]

3. Seriously, set expectations and if they met them, keep them...if not?

Fire away...

Stupid people will out themselves if you merely hold them accountable to logic, reason and common sense. If she is too stupid to function in the role, you should feel no remorse when the time comes to shed the dead weight. Employment is a two-way exchange, and if your the only one holding up the agreement, fairness decides, not you! At least that is always the way I tell myself in such situations...

[TomSlick]

6. I need the night to calm.

There are not a lot of people looking for work in our small town. If there was, she wouldn't have been hired in the first place. She can at least answer the phone and type.

[bullimiami]

4. Work is work. If they do their job.

No reason to bring politics into the office unless that’s part if the job.

[anciano]

8. Agreed 👍

Good answer.

[agalisgv]

5. If you work in a law office

You should know the answer to this.

[TomSlick]

7. Arkansas is a "right to work" state.

"Right to work" really means right to fire. There are few restrictions on the legal right to fire employees.

I raise a moral question, not a legal one.

[MichMan]

16. RTW has nothing to do with it

RTW means that people at union represented workplaces are not required to be union members in order to be employed. No more, no less.

Is she represented by a union contract?

[lpbk2713]

9. If you asked her you should have been prepared for her answer.

She didn't volunteer the information.

[TomSlick]

10. Good point.

Having established that she is an idiot, I should refrain from talking to her about anything unrelated to work.

However, that means I don't have to politely listen to her drone on about her family.

[lpbk2713]

11. Fair enough.

...

[LearnedHand]

12. If this person is your employee, why are you baiting her?

You hold all the power over her. Maybe you were joking but that seems like pure hell for that employee, whom you put on the spot with a divisive question. Is her employment seriously dependent on her voting how you think she should vote?

[TomSlick]

13. I don't think I baited her.

I only asked if she was going to watch the debate. When she said she didn't like Biden, I asked why.

I will allow it was clear that I didn't understand why she thought VP Harris and Trump were equally unattractive as candidates.

[LearnedHand]

14. I'm imagining being that woman

If I don't know your politics, I'm scrambling for an answer that will get you off the topic without my losing my job. I'd say exactly something like that to you. More import though is the extreme power imbalance. No matter what your relationship with this employee (distant but professional, work buds, whatever), if you sign her paycheck she cannot win, no matter what her answer is. You are aware of how often women are the butt of such power plays in the workplace aren't you?

If she's a good employee, her politics do not matter. If she's a crappy employee, it has nothing to do with her politics.

[Ocelot II]

15. Maybe she was afraid to express a preference

since you’re her employer. Best to keep politics out of the office altogether.

[Fla Dem]

17. This is the best answer. Especially in this high tension, polarized political environment.

[Emile]

18. After an alert and discussion with the hosts, locking.

Nothing political allowed in the Lounge.

Feel free reposting this in General Discussion.