Who Is Wrong Here?

[mefordis]

Sorry if I wasn't clear in explaining the situation. Mickey's did NOT say anything to my employer. The person who is complaining to my employer is a client of the bank, and they do contract work for Mickey's. The bank client who contracts with Mickey's knows I am an employee of the bank, and happened to see my post on Mickey's facebook.

What I hoped to gain by posting was to let Mickey's know they lost my business because I found their apology extremely insincere.

This is worse, because if you offended someone who was NOT the subject of your email, you probably offended others. People are probably disappointed their kids cannot experience santa the way they used to, and I"m sure it's a hot topic of controversy. I wouldn't touch it personally.

Whether you got fired or not, I hope you learned your lesson. If you must state your opinion on facebook, I'd ask myself "Would I care if my employer or future employer read this?" rather than your mom who isn't going to be so tough on you. Also, it's never a good idea to trash a business online using your real name.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Create a burner FB account if you absolutely have to post on controversial topics.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

You are only wrong in expressing your opinion on a public social media page when everything is judged. It’s not like you were advocating for money laundering or other illegal banking activity.

 

[JimMIA]

OP...

This type of thread often evolves into all sorts of fascinating and valid discussions about what happened, and the interpretations of what happened.

But for you, what really matters is your relationship with your employer.

Don't lose sight of what is really important here. Do whatever you have to do to in order to preserve your job and your valued employee status.

Nothing else matters in the long run.

 

[js]

I work in a Liberal Arts private college. I have only my closest friends and few family on FB and my only groups are Disney and cruise related. Still, I NEVER post anything about politics, I never like anything and always think twice before I respond, which usually means I dont.

My job is important to me, I am in my 50s, I dont want to be looking for another one and telling Mickeys how I feel, really doesnt matter in the grand scheme of things. Put nothing ever in writing that can come back to you for any reason that could cause you any problems. If this is a cause that is very important to you, then yes, keep up the good fight. If it really doesnt matter, apologize, keep your job and dont shop at Mickeys. See you could have been without all this mess if you just kept your opinions to yourself and still didnt shop at Mickeys.

So, maybe you werent wrong, but it wasnt that smart either. I wouldnt want to be your employer having to talk to and apologize to Mickeys on your behalf. Honestly, the people at Mickeys made their own choices to sit with Santa anyway no one forced them.

 

[js]

What I hoped to gain by posting was to let Mickey's know they lost my business because I found their apology extremely insincere.

So really, what you wanted to say to Mickeys is that it wasnt the non compliance of masks that they lost your business, it is because you didnt like their apology.

Like I said above, fight the fight if this is your cause, making sure people apologize how they should. If not, be done with it, apologize in private and take it down.

 

[Skywalker]

What I hoped to gain by posting was to let Mickey's know they lost my business because I found their apology extremely insincere.

Well okay but in fairness what the "complainer" hoped to gain was also letting a company know they could lose business because you publicly posted smack about a client.
There is no high road here. Well maybe the complainer has the slight high road since they spoke to people in person rather than using social media to name and shame.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

OP...

This type of thread often evolves into all sorts of fascinating and valid discussions about what happened, and the interpretations of what happened.

But for you, what really matters is your relationship with your employer.

Don't lose sight of what is really important here. Do whatever you have to do to in order to preserve your job and your valued employee status.

Nothing else matters in the long run.

You seem more invested in how this thread turns out than other posters actually seem about it..just being honest here

 

[cbg1027]

even off duty you are expected to represent your employer in a good light. While I do not think what you said was wrong, in any way, the fact that Mickey's is a customer of your bank means you should have kept your opinion to yourself.

I don't disagree with you. However, I did not know Mickey's was a customer of the bank until my boss told me about this. The bank has a branch near Mickey's, and I work at another branch. I've never encountered someone from Mickey's at my branch, or seen their account.

My home town had a Santa on the square. Maskless. Kids could sit on his lap if they wanted. But, everyone had a choice. No one made parents bring their kids there. I have no problem with that - let people make decisions based on their families and their comfort levels with the virus. That is the same situation here. The store was trying to provide some normalcy and let parents decide what is best for their kids.

I would never have posted what you did on a public forum that can be seen by others. I would just have stopped shopping there if it meant that much to me. I would immediately delete the posting and apologize and hope that Mickey’s doesn’t escalate the matter at your bank. It could come down to keeping their account vs you leaving. I bet the bank would pick the big account.

This isn't really about whether Mickey's was in the wrong, but to respond to your point nonetheless.... Mickey's has an indoor store and an outdoor area where the plants are.
There is a mask mandate in the county Mickey's is located in. The mandate states that masks must be worn inside any business open to the public. Having a maskless Santa is in direct non-compliance with a county mandate.
Had Santa been sitting outside, Mickey's would have been in compliance with the mandate. It's Florida. ...so sitting outside in December isn't hard to do.
And Mickey's took away people's choice by having a maskless Santa sitting inside, when the expectation is that when you enter a business in our county, everyone will be masked. If they truly wanted people to have a choice, they would have seated Santa outside, where no mandate is being broken, and customers would not have unexpectedly encountered maskless people inside.

Take this for what it's worth, considering I probably agree with the OP: a maskless Santa sitting outdoors (I assume) in a Town Square wouldn't hit my radar at all. People there would have a choice because you aren't doing anything else while there. It's outdoors, which is generally much less risk, and you aren't affecting any other part of a business. Mickey's sounds like it might be indoors, or at least the part of it where Santa was. That really doesn't give other shoppers, who prefer people to be wearing masks and not spreading virus, any choice. So, they walk into that situation without knowing what was happening. I don't think the two scenarios are the same. Now maybe Mickey's was outdoors. If so, then I do agree that there's a safe choice to made and avoidance is easy.

Exactly.

I am surprised your employer doesn't have a social media policy written in the employee code of conduct.

My employer has a very vague and brief social media policy. I'd have to go look at the exact wording, but it's maybe three sentencea along the lines of "Don't say you represent the bank unless you're saying nice things."

 

[sam_gordon]

I don't disagree with you. However, I did not know Mickey's was a customer of the bank until my boss told me about this. The bank has a branch near Mickey's, and I work at another branch. I've never encountered someone from Mickey's at my branch, or seen their account.



This isn't really about whether Mickey's was in the wrong, but to respond to your point nonetheless.... Mickey's has an indoor store and an outdoor area where the plants are.
There is a mask mandate in the county Mickey's is located in. The mandate states that masks must be worn inside any business open to the public. Having a maskless Santa is in direct non-compliance with a county mandate.
Had Santa been sitting outside, Mickey's would have been in compliance with the mandate. It's Florida. ...so sitting outside in December isn't hard to do.
And Mickey's took away people's choice by having a maskless Santa sitting inside, when the expectation is that when you enter a business in our county, everyone will be masked. If they truly wanted people to have a choice, they would have seated Santa outside, where no mandate is being broken, and customers would not have unexpectedly encountered maskless people inside.



Exactly.



My employer has a very vague and brief social media policy. I'd have to go look at the exact wording, but it's maybe three sentencea along the lines of "Don't say you represent the bank unless you're saying nice things."

None of this matters. Assuming Florida is a right to work state, your employer can fire you for pretty much any reason it wants (there are a few discrimination exceptions, but those wouldn't come into play here). They can discipline you and not fire you, which can range from a "talking to" to a suspension or probation. Or they can do nothing.

I still think the third party should have never said anything, but I also feel you were wrong for publicly taking a side on a controversial issue. Did you have the right to do so? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean you can't suffer consequences for doing so.

I agree with others who say you should take down your post and tell your bosses you're sorry, you didn't think the post would reflect poorly on the bank, and you'll be more careful in the future.

 

[mom2rtk]

OP you need an anonymous Faceboook account.

ETA @mi*vida*loca beat me to it.

 

[disneychrista]

OP you need an anonymous Faceboook account.

Yep. I don’t even use my “real” Facebook anymore. Just the one under a fake name with no personal info or friends on it. It is for me to check on going on a at places I might visit or travel. And now to check on local COVID information.

 

[JimMIA]

You seem more invested in how this thread turns out than other posters actually seem about it..just being honest here

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but my only interest is how OP's relationship with her employer turns out.

It sounds to me like their immediate supervisor tried to resolve the issue with the client who complained, was unsuccessful, and now the matter has been escalated to upper management.

There is no way that's a good thing, and that's probably why the supervisor gave OP a heads-up -- because their job might be at risk.

I don't care who conventional DISwisdom decides won the "right/wrong contest" between OP and the complaining party. I care about OP.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Yep. I don’t even use my “real” Facebook anymore. Just the one under a fake name with no personal info or friends on it. It is for me to check on going on a at places I might visit or travel. And now to check on local COVID information.

Ive thought about doing this for Facebook marketplace, travel and Disney groups. Using a fake name and only having it for those things. I could activate my old FB account but I don’t want to

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I'm not sure what you mean by that,

 

[JimMIA]

None of this matters. Assuming Florida is a right to work state, your employer can fire you for pretty much any reason it wants (there are a few discrimination exceptions, but those wouldn't come into play here).

Yes Florida is a "right to work" state.

For those who are unfamiliar with this very important term, it means that either party in the employment relationship can terminate employment "for good reason, bad reason, or no reason at all" at any time. That is of course subject to discrimination laws, union contracts, etc -- but it's a very broad legal principle if there are no intervening factors.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I would not publically call out a customer (it doesn't matter what you are calling them out about). That's fire-able.

For example: my company's customers are school districts. I check to see if a school district is a customer before I harras them online for something atrocious they may have done.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

You said something controversial about a company that does business with your employer. While I agree with your sentiment and understand you were expressing your own views and not that of your employer, the bottom line is that you could cause Mickey’s to take their business elsewhere and negatively impact your employer. Your employer may take disciplinary action against you, depending on where you live. It’s a lesson learned.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I just hope things work out okay and you don't get in very much trouble.

In theory you should be able to respectfully state your opinion without fear of retaliation, but....

Although...not how it works.

 

[JimMIA]

Although...not how it works.

Unfortunately, you're right and that's been my concern all along. IRL does not often mirror what should be.