AOL's CEO Just Fired Somebody for Pulling Out a Camera in a Meeting About Layoffs (UPDATE) [View all]

[UpInArms]

Source: The Atlantic

Well this is stone cold. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong appears to have just summarily fired one of his executives in front of about 1,000 coworkers who were on a conference call about layoffs at its hyper-local news network, Patch.

AOL is getting ready to pull the plug on hundreds of Patch sites in an effort to restructure the troubled project. Jim Romenesko reports that about three minutes into a companywide call this morning explaining the changes, Armstrong abruptly and publicly gave Patch Creative Director Abel Lenz the boot. His infraction? Pulling out a camera, apparently. Here's how one tipster described the scene to Romenesko:

"Abel, put that camera down. You're fired. Out," Armstrong said. After a pause of about five seconds, he then continued the call as though nothing had happened

Then after about five more minutes of talking about whatever, he threw in "and the reason I fired Abel before was I don't want anyone taking pictures of this meeting." He invoked some kind of comparison to a sports team's locker room.

But he seriously fired someone live on a conference call with the entire company ... a call that informed us that no one would be laid off today but that instead the layoffs (sorry, "impacts&quot would happen at different junctures next week depending on the success of finding "partners" for moribund Patch sites.

Abel, put that camera down. You're fired. Out,

Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/08/aols-ceo-just-fired-somebody-for-pulling-out-a-camera-in-a-meeting-about-layoffs/278541/

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AOL Chief Apologizes Over Firing of Worker

www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/business/media/aols-armstrong-apologizes-to-staff-for-firing-of-employee.html?_r=0

Tim Armstrong, the chief executive of AOL, issued an unusual apology on Tuesday to his entire staff for the public manner in which he fired an employee during an internal conference call last Friday.

A recording of the firing was leaked to news outlets and caused a firestorm around Mr. Armstrong, who has been trying to turn AOL from a struggling Internet portal into a successful media company.

The four-paragraph statement, sent to AOL employees at 4:30 p.m. and obtained by The New York Times, said, “I am writing you to acknowledge the mistake I made last Friday during the Patch all-hands meeting when I publicly fired Abel Lenz. It was an emotional response at the start of a difficult discussion dealing with many people’s careers and livelihoods. I am the C.E.O. and leader of the organization, and I take that responsibility seriously.”

The firing took place during a conference call with more than 1,000 employees of Patch, the local news service AOL runs for hundreds of towns. Mr. Armstrong had convened the meeting to emphasize the direness of Patch’s circumstances and prepare the staff for coming layoffs and management changes.

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