Sportswriter Bart Hubbuch is suing the New York Post over his recent firing by the newspaper.
Hubbuch was fired on Jan. 27 for an anti-Trump tweet he sent about the new president’s inauguration. Hubbuch sent some negative Trump tweets on election day and then went silent on his Twitter account for a while before popping back up with a tweet comparing the president’s inauguration day to the tragedies of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor (full details here).
In his suit, Hubbuch says his boss termed his tweet “insensitive and outrageous.”
“We’ve talked to you about your tweeting before. This tweet was insensitive and outrageous, and therefore we are terminating you immediately,” Hubbuch says he was told upon being fired.
In his lawsuit, Hubbuch says the Post violated New York Labor Law § 201-d by firing him for “expressing his personal views off-premises and on his own time.”
The suit accuses the Post of exploiting tragedies, violence and death to sell stories, which makes firing Hubbuch over his tweet seem hypocritical. Hubbuch’s attorney argues that the tweet cannot be considered an act of “misconduct” by the writer.
Hubbuch’s attorney argues that the Post never shared a written social media policy that would have contained guidelines about what employees are allowed to say and what they’re not allowed to say. He also supposedly was told if he apologized he would not be fired, so he did, but he still was sacked.
The suit alleges that the Post is pressured to keep pro-Donald Trump treatment because the president reads the paper.
Hubbuch had been with the Post for more than nine years. He is seeking all available damages, including lost wages and compensatory damages.
H/T David Wallach
