The staff member lost his job after posting a message on the company’s Slack channel saying, “stay safe homies, Nazis are about.” One of his coworkers criticized him for using the word “Nazi,” triggering a heated internal debate, Business Insider reported on Tuesday. The employee was promptly reprimanded for his comment by GitHub’s HR department. Two days later, he was terminated for unspecified “patterns of behavior.” [Read: How Netflix shapes mainstream culture, explained by data] The decision sparked outrage among Github staff. Around 200 of them signed an open letter asking the company to explain the decision — and publicly denounce Nazis. GitHub also shared statements from CEO Nat Friedman condemning the US Capitol riots, and all discriminatory belief systems: But the offer to reinstate the employee could well be rejected. He had reportedly told colleagues that he was unlikely to work in tech again due to its “toxic” culture. GitHub’s apology might not be enough to change his mind.
