Post AjoqQ0JwIcyCMeB16W by JulietEMcKenna@wandering.shop
(DIR) More posts by JulietEMcKenna@wandering.shop
(DIR) Post #AjoofUFj5xwLdGSeSO by LordWoolamaloo@mastodon.scot
2024-07-11T10:50:37Z
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This case is simply awful - an thin-skinned author basically got a bookseller and reviewer fired from Waterstones for comments expressed in a personal capacity on her own social media reviewing platform https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jul/11/authors-ask-waterstones-to-rehire-worker-fired-for-tweet-about-gender-critical-writer-christina-dalcher?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooksNothing to do with her day job, and given it was about an author hostile to trans rights, a lot of people are rightly questioning Waterstones over this, while they try to pretend it was nothing to do with that#books #livres #bookstodon
(DIR) Post #Ajoopa8c4KCymTwoHQ by LordWoolamaloo@mastodon.scot
2024-07-11T10:52:27Z
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This also brings back unpleasant personal memories for me as Watestones also fired me some 20 odd years back for online comments on my own blog. Something that could have been sorted out with a quiet discussion was instead escalated by them.It backfired hugely on them when it went public. My union & I also won the appeal. It appears the company has learned nothing in the intervening years. Quite shameful
(DIR) Post #AjopF5rzEAuCR2Ks08 by LordWoolamaloo@mastodon.scot
2024-07-11T10:57:03Z
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It was a horrible time: I had worked there for years, run countless author events, was regularly on radio book programmes as "an expert from Waterstones" which was great publicity for them, but they didn't care.Fortunately I had support from my union and many friends, including many authors I had worked with, who spoke out openly on my behalf. Eventually lead to a better job, hoping Tilly gets something better too out of this dreadful time
(DIR) Post #AjopSkXNL0guKOCry4 by JulietEMcKenna@wandering.shop
2024-07-11T10:59:30Z
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@LordWoolamaloo I have been thinking very much the same, in all respects.
(DIR) Post #AjopjEpSTwPUuQWk2i by LordWoolamaloo@mastodon.scot
2024-07-11T11:02:30Z
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@JulietEMcKenna It's unbeleivable, isn't it? They genuinely haven't learned not just that it is wrong, but it also has serious consequences for their image.As for Dalcher, what a shameful excuse for a writer - standing up for women's rights by getting a woman fired for expressing a personal opinion. Sheer hypocrisy. I hope a local bookshop snaps up Tilly
(DIR) Post #AjoqQ0JwIcyCMeB16W by JulietEMcKenna@wandering.shop
2024-07-11T11:10:13Z
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@LordWoolamaloo One of the things that recurrent and rapid staff turnover leads to is loss of institutional memory about PR disasters like this... and the impact on staff morale of treating someone so disgracefully. Stupid on so many levels - as well as being y'know, morally crappy behaviour.
(DIR) Post #AjouIUnDWJeON8XvlY by bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot
2024-07-11T11:53:41Z
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@LordWoolamaloo I suspect I will be unpopular for saying this, but she was not just sacked for expressing an opinion "in a personal capacity"; she was sacked for saying she was going to act in an unprofessional manner by vandalizing her employer's property.
(DIR) Post #AjouXjkOCbtJ61UW3c by LordWoolamaloo@mastodon.scot
2024-07-11T11:56:27Z
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@bodhipaksa No, she was not - it was clear she was going to trash her OWN copies of that author's book in protest. This had nothing to do with her professional duties, this is just Waterstones acting in the same heavy handed manner they did to me 20 years ago.
(DIR) Post #Ajp2Nna5tNwJiyRow4 by bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot
2024-07-11T13:24:17Z
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@LordWoolamaloo I haven't seen the original tweet, but the quotes I've seen of it say, “Ooh, I’ll enjoy tearing up your books and popping them in the bin today. Thanks for the heads up.” If there's a fuller version I'd love to see it.It doesn't seem at all clear from this quote that she was talking about her personal copies. It's not clear either that she was talking about Waterstones' copies, but it would be natural to draw that conclusion.
(DIR) Post #Ajp4mtmo9ujU7JUV8q by failedLyndonLaRouchite@mas.to
2024-07-11T13:51:14Z
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@LordWoolamaloo I am so old, that i think of chain bookstores as the enemy, not the friend
(DIR) Post #AjpRty62pVEeSRpRb6 by LordWoolamaloo@mastodon.scot
2024-07-11T18:10:14Z
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@bodhipaksa She actually said in her video they cited "bringing the company into disrepute", which is the same this-means-whatever-we-want line they used with me. That would also indicate they simply think they can punish her for making a personal statement on her own site. If she had threatned to destroy stock in the shop it would have been a very different charge.
(DIR) Post #AjpiswmVvpojJJnBU8 by bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot
2024-07-11T21:20:32Z
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@LordWoolamaloo I haven't seen their letter, so I don't know what else they might have said in terms of exactly how they thought she was bringing the company into disrepute. Is the letter available somewhere?
(DIR) Post #Ajpkq3ScqGcn47EpUm by LordWoolamaloo@mastodon.scot
2024-07-11T21:42:25Z
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@bodhipaksa she said it in her video that this is what the company said she had done, which is the exact same as they did to me. It's a catch-all phrase they can make mean whatever suits them. Same old crap they pulled before on me (which ended badly for them). Having prior experience with how they work I'm inclined very much to her side, because I know how these buggers work.