GitHub’s HR chief has resigned because the company fired a Jewish employee who warned his colleagues in Washington to beware of Nazis.
The Microsoft platform – which software developers use to share and collaborate on code – said its HR boss took “personal responsibility” for the flap and stepped down on Saturday after an outside investigation found flaws in the way the termination was conducted. .
The unidentified employee was fired Jan. 8, two days after reportedly sending a Slack message urging DC area employees to exercise caution as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
“Stay safe homies, Nazis are about,” the executive wrote, according to TechCrunch.
Photos of the Capitol riots showed the insurgents with a variety of Nazi symbols and white supremacist symbols. For example, last week authorities arrested Robert Keith Packer, a Virginia man wearing a sweatshirt with the words “Camp Auschwitz”, a clear reference to the infamous Nazi death camp.
Despite that fact, one of the executive’s colleagues complained about his message, and an HR representative claimed upon his dismissal that he had “exhibited a pattern of behavior that is not conducive to company policy,” he told TechCrunch.
The employee’s impeachment sparked a backlash from many of his GitHub colleagues, who, according to Business Insider, distributed a letter demanding that the company denounce Nazis and white supremacy.
GitHub commissioned an independent investigation on Jan. 11 that revealed “significant errors of judgment and procedural errors” in the case, chief operating officer Erica Brescia said in a blog post on Sunday.
“In light of these findings, we immediately reversed the decision to separate with the employee and are in talks with his representative,” she wrote. “We want to say publicly to the employee: we sincerely apologize.”
GitHub didn’t immediately respond to an email Monday asking if the executive is back at work there.
Brescia has not identified the HR manager who stepped down as a result of the probe, but Carrie Olesen was listed as the chief human resources officer on GitHub’s website earlier this month, according to an archived version of the webpage. Olesen’s name no longer appeared on the site on Monday morning.
Brescia also acknowledged that “Nazis and white supremacists” were part of the crowd that carried out the “horrible” Capitol attack that killed five people and forced lawmakers into hiding.
“Employees are free to raise concerns about Nazis, anti-Semitism, white supremacy or any other form of discrimination or harassment in internal discussions,” said Bresica’s blog post.
“We expect all employees to be respectful, professional and to follow GitHub’s policies on discrimination and harassment.”