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Man sacked for slurs on Facebook (Australia)
A Gold Coast man has lost his job after his employer confronted him about derogatory comments he published on Facebook.
Jason Dowling, who worked on the Hinze Dam Project managed by Thiess Pty Ltd, has been stood down after admitting to posting offensive remarks following a tip-off by a member of the public.
A 25-year-old law student from Lismore who only wanted to be identified as Caroline told ninemsn she emailed Thiess on January 30 with a link to Mr Dowling's Facebook page.
Four days later she received a response from Thiess group HR manager Mark Vining saying Mr Dowling's employment at the company had been terminated following an investigation.
In addition, a second unidentified employee was also fired and a third tendered his resignation.
"Those comments are in no way supported by our business practices, are in breach of various Company and Project policies, and certainly not encouraged or endorsed by the management of Thiess," Mr Vining wrote in that letter.
"Thiess has a long and proud history of promoting diversity and equality in our workforce, and have many programmes in place to support these objectives."
Caroline told ninemsn she first saw screen shots of Mr Dowling's comments posted on the website PWSNT.com and "out of curiosity" looked him up on Facebook.
She said she found "really vile racist slurs" on his wall, which were publically viewable by anyone because of his low privacy settings.
"He mentioned his workplace a couple of times and he made homophobic comments about some workmates," Caroline said.
He made hateful remarks directed at Aboriginal people, Muslims, refugees and women.
Caroline told ninemsn she had doubts about letting his employer know but felt it was the right thing to do.
"I didn't contact his workplace immediately but it was racial vilification and I thought his workplace really should know [because] I'm sure his attitude would've affected people in his workplace."
Although Mr Dowling's Facebook page is now private, some of the censored screen shots and correspondences have been posted on The Anti-Bogan's 'Wall of Shame', a blog that aims to document racism in Australia.
An anonymous blogger from The Anti-Bogan told ninemsn that both Mr Dowling and his girlfriend have been in contact with them, confirming the authenticity of the story.
Mr Dowling told The Anti-Bogan he had lost his job and "around $12,000 in incentive bonuses and entitlements".
Mr Dowling said the jokes made were intended for his friends only and not "for people to go looking for things that offend them".
The Anti-Bogan blogger has defended the site, saying the majority of content published is taken from public forums and walls.
"We're just republishing what people have published publicly, exposing, highlighting and immortalising it. That's why we're different from WikiLeaks."
"If anyone ever says racism isn't alive in Australia, we say here is documented evidence. We have lots of files and have even exposed two people from the Australian Defence Force," he said.
Thiess representatives chose not to comment when contacted about this article.
Mr Dowling has not responded to ninemsn's requests for comment.
A Gold Coast man has lost his job after his employer confronted him about derogatory comments he published on Facebook.
Jason Dowling, who worked on the Hinze Dam Project managed by Thiess Pty Ltd, has been stood down after admitting to posting offensive remarks following a tip-off by a member of the public.
A 25-year-old law student from Lismore who only wanted to be identified as Caroline told ninemsn she emailed Thiess on January 30 with a link to Mr Dowling's Facebook page.
Four days later she received a response from Thiess group HR manager Mark Vining saying Mr Dowling's employment at the company had been terminated following an investigation.
In addition, a second unidentified employee was also fired and a third tendered his resignation.
"Those comments are in no way supported by our business practices, are in breach of various Company and Project policies, and certainly not encouraged or endorsed by the management of Thiess," Mr Vining wrote in that letter.
"Thiess has a long and proud history of promoting diversity and equality in our workforce, and have many programmes in place to support these objectives."
Caroline told ninemsn she first saw screen shots of Mr Dowling's comments posted on the website PWSNT.com and "out of curiosity" looked him up on Facebook.
She said she found "really vile racist slurs" on his wall, which were publically viewable by anyone because of his low privacy settings.
"He mentioned his workplace a couple of times and he made homophobic comments about some workmates," Caroline said.
He made hateful remarks directed at Aboriginal people, Muslims, refugees and women.
Caroline told ninemsn she had doubts about letting his employer know but felt it was the right thing to do.
"I didn't contact his workplace immediately but it was racial vilification and I thought his workplace really should know [because] I'm sure his attitude would've affected people in his workplace."
Although Mr Dowling's Facebook page is now private, some of the censored screen shots and correspondences have been posted on The Anti-Bogan's 'Wall of Shame', a blog that aims to document racism in Australia.
An anonymous blogger from The Anti-Bogan told ninemsn that both Mr Dowling and his girlfriend have been in contact with them, confirming the authenticity of the story.
Mr Dowling told The Anti-Bogan he had lost his job and "around $12,000 in incentive bonuses and entitlements".
Mr Dowling said the jokes made were intended for his friends only and not "for people to go looking for things that offend them".
The Anti-Bogan blogger has defended the site, saying the majority of content published is taken from public forums and walls.
"We're just republishing what people have published publicly, exposing, highlighting and immortalising it. That's why we're different from WikiLeaks."
"If anyone ever says racism isn't alive in Australia, we say here is documented evidence. We have lots of files and have even exposed two people from the Australian Defence Force," he said.
Thiess representatives chose not to comment when contacted about this article.
Mr Dowling has not responded to ninemsn's requests for comment.
