President of an online instrument store, Music Clubfired almost all of its employees and freelancers (99 out of 110 employees) for missing an early meeting in a profanity-laced Slack message.
“For those of you who missed the meeting this morning, consider this an official notice: you are all fired,” reads a message (*99*) CEO Baldvin Oddsson. an institution focusing on music, MusicTech.
“I gave you a chance for a better life, hard work and development. And yet you showed me that you don’t take it seriously. Out of 110 people, only 11 were present this morning. These 11 will reach the rest, the rest are being apprenticed,” we read further. “Get it [f—] It’s none of my business anymore.”
MusicTech listened to audio clips of internal meetings and verified Slack conversations. An anonymous worker told the facility that there was “virtually no notice of the meeting.”
On Reddit, in a now-deleted post, a former intern said he joined the company in an unpaid cybersecurity position on November 15, and “an hour” after starting his first day, the CEO fired most of the employees.
“The company is just a startup…[It] relies on remote interns,” the post said.
Despite the press and endless debates on LinkedIn about hiring unpaid workers (and then immediately firing them), Oddsson not only stands by his original message, but also softens his tone and content.
Last week on LinkedIn, Oddsson published“This past weekend I received an overwhelming amount of attention, both positive and negative. While some have tried to “cancel” me, it has completely backfired. Our traffic has increased to over 20,000 views, sales are in general – it’s about time, and we receive hundreds of applications every day.
“I received over 300 messages, including inquiries from CEOs, industry leaders and major newspapers requesting interviews,” it continued. “I stand by my decisions and the values we share. Firing these individuals was the right move for our organization and we are stronger than ever.”
Fortune he called it “rage firing,” an employee-side variation of “rage quitting.”
If you called a morning meeting at the last minute and no one showed up, how would you handle the situation? According to Harvard Business ReviewRule No. 1 for managers (and mainly for life): “Don’t text when you’re angry. Never”.
The website recommends never communicating “in the middle of strong negative feelings” because “the subtleties of feelings are often lost in text messages and emails” and “the ability to communicate requires caution.”