What’s worse than losing your job? Getting let go over the phone. Here’s what RealClearSport is reporting:
Due to the hard times newspapers are facing, The Sun has been forced to cut staff. That’s fine, but there are certain ways you just don’t conduct business, regardless of the hard circumstances you are facing. The Baltimore Sun, and sports editor Tim Wheatley, chose to disregard common decency in their completely classless and disrespectful manner when they fired members of its staff yesterday.
Columnists Rick Maese and David Steele were fired by phone, in the press box at Camden Yards, during the 8th inning of the Orioles game against the Angles Wednesday afternoon. Beat writer Dan Connolly and a photographer were also informed that they were fired at the same time, but Connolly was able to keep his job after two less senior writers accepted buyouts.
All of these people deserved the courtesy of being told in person that they were being let go, not over the phone, not in the press box, and certainly not while on assignment for the paper. Steele has been at the Sun since September 2004, and Maese since at least December 2005 (couldn’t find an exact date). Both deserved better.
Stay classy, Baltimore.
Katia Bachko is on staff at The New Yorker.