GitHub is admitting that a Jewish employee was fired by mistake and is offering him his job back. The news came after the company hired an independent law firm to investigate the termination and found that “significant mistakes were made”. The company’s head of HR, Carrie Olesen, is also resigning.
“Last night, the investigation concluded that significant mistakes were made that are not consistent with our internal practices or the judgment we expect from our leaders,” wrote GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, in an internal message to employees on 16 January. He said the company would post a public apology on its blog this weekend.
In the post, GitHub COO Erica Brescia said: “For the employee, we would like to say publicly: we sincerely apologize.”
The controversial dismissal came just two days after the official alerted colleagues in Washington DC to be protected from the Nazis – news first reported by Business Insider. He posted the message on January 6, the day of the insurrection in Washington DC, when protesters associated with neo-Nazi organizations invaded the Capitol.
The warning sparked criticism from a colleague who took offense at the use of the word “Nazi” and prompted the HR team at GitHub to berate the Jewish official. Two days later, he was fired.
Upon termination, about 200 of GitHub’s 1,700 employees signed an open letter asking for clarification as to why the employee was fired. Workers also began to use the word “Nazi” repeatedly in Slack, to describe the rebels in DC.
“Others have said this, but I just want to say it explicitly – I think the Nazis were present at some protests on January 6 and that it is very scary to see these ideas on display,” wrote a Slack engineer. “100% Nazis have been there, and 1000000000% Nazis are scary as hell and don’t belong anywhere. PARTICULARLY on GitHub! Replied another.
In his note to employees this weekend, Friedman emphasized that employees (what the company calls “hubbers”) can talk about their fears about white supremacists. “Hubbers are free to express concerns about neo-Nazis, anti-Semitism, white supremacy or any other form of discrimination or harassment,” he wrote. “And, of course, we expect Hubbers to be respectful, professional and follow GitHub’s policies on discrimination and harassment at all times.”