The employee allegedly cautioned co-workers about Nazis at the US capitol riots
The HR head of Microsoft-owned software company GitHub has stepped down and taken “personal accountability” for the recent controversy surrounding the dismissal of a Jewish employee.
The worker said he wanted to warn colleagues about Nazis and the US capitol riots when he posted an alert in an internal forum. However, conflict with another staff member reportedly prompted GitHub to terminate the worker.
The dismissal raised questions from other employees, who later signed a petition urging the company to explain the reason behind the termination and to publicly condemn Nazism.
The incident led GitHub to backtrack from its decision. After enlisting the help of an independent investigator, the company said it found “significant errors of judgment and procedure”.
“Our head of HR has taken personal accountability and resigned from GitHub,” said COO Erica Brescia in an official blog post.
“In light of these findings, we immediately reversed the decision to separate with the employee and are in communication with his representative. To the employee we wish to say publicly: we sincerely apologise,” Brescia said.
“GitHub condemns the attack on the US Capitol on January 6th and any and all belief systems that are discriminatory. Antisemitism, neo-Nazis, and white supremacy – along with all other forms of racism – are vile and have no place in our community.
Read the article by Rachel Ranosa in HRD.