Comments on: EAGLES FIRE EMPLOYEE WHO COMPLAINED ABOUT DAWKINS' DEPARTURE

By: y2jdilemma

y2jdilemma — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:03:53 +0000

Free speech has nothing to do with it. Its the 21st century, and the fact is, you simply can’t publicly bash your employer, even on the internet. Here’s an excerpt from my Company’s Rules and Regulations:
Blogging
“Company X respects the right of Crew Members to use personal websites, online journals, and any other public forum where information is shared, psoted, or rovided through an electronic medium as a method of self-expression, and generally views them positively. However, if you choose to identify yourself as a Company X employee or to discuss matters related to Company X’s business, operations, personnel, or technology on any website or weblog the possibility exists that some readers may view you as a de facto spokesperson for the company. It is for this reason that Crew Members of Company X are required to observe the following guidelines:
1. Clearly state that the views expressed in a blog are yours alone and do not necessarily represent the views of Company X.
2. Comply with the company’s confidentiality and proprietary information standards which include the use of images of company logos, work locations, any other equipment, or sites used by Company X or its affiliates.
3. Comply with this Handbook’s standards concerning respect for the Company, Crew Members, customers, partners, and competitors.
4. Ensure that your blogging activity does not interfere with your work.
5. Contact HR if you have any questions about what is appropriate to include in your blog.
Failure to follow these guidelines may result in disciplinary action, up to and include termination of empolyment.”
If my employer has this, it’s reasonable to assume that the Philadelphia Eagles have a similarly worded policy as well. If that is the case, he would have clearly violated #3, and the Philadelphia Eagles followed with what they deemed appropriate disciplinary action.
Bottom line, the guy is a part-time, easily replaced employee, who was publicly bad-mouthing his employer.

By: bored_of_seinfeld_jokes

bored_of_seinfeld_jokes — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:09:56 +0000

For all of you complaining about how this hurt’s the Eagles PR, how many of you are planning:
1. To not go to another Eagles game
2. Not watch the Eagles (or any NFL team) on television
3. Refuse to buy any NFL licensed products
4. Refuse to buy any product from a company that advertises during an Eagles game?
That’s what I thought. Unless tons of people are planning on doing all 4 of the things above, the Eagles won’t lose one red cent because of this move. Who is going to stop rooting for a team because a gameday beers salesman or whatever he did was stupid and got fired?
If you really hate the way the Eagles is run as an organization, hit them where it hurts – their bottomline. If you aren’t willing to do that, then just STFU and move on.

By: shuxion

shuxion — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:27:06 +0000

Upcoming Eagles articles:
1. McNabb complains about not having a receiver
2. McNabb has some bad games and gets benched
3. McNabb comes back and has great games.
4. Begin again from part 1

By: TheVet700

TheVet700 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:18:48 +0000

This organization has sunk to new lows. They have lost touch with its fan base. They have become the face of corporate America not a beloved sports team. They are too stupid to realize that they have owned this town for years and they are letting it all slip away. They have had a strangle hold on us for years but the team across the street is pulling us back fan by fan. Me being one and sure winning a world championship helps. But the Phillies don’t seam to be a cold heartless organization with the attitude that a lot of big business has. If morale does not in prove the beatings will continue. And the sad part is they don’t even see it. They are so caught up in there own little reality that one day soon they will look up and the city will be all wearing red and they will only have themselves to blame. At least when Norman Braman was here we all new were we stood.

By: Hail To The Redskins!

Hail To The Redskins! — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:28:05 +0000

@ tomskiffington
tomskiffington says:
March 9th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
“are there any non-Italians in Philly?”
are there any non-inbreds in west virginia?
and btw, nice of you to make fun of a mentally disabled guy for his spelling and grammar mistakes. stay classy florio.
Based on your statement, are you the mentally disabled guy Florio is making fun of?
If you don’t like Florio, don’t read the site fool. Stay Classy? That is original. How do you make such an unclassy statement and follow it up with stay classy?!?! Did you make a guest appearance in THE DELIVERANCE? Ned Beatty is that you?
For the moron that called Florio a racist based on Philly being a town of with alot of Italians, who cares? How is that racist? Just because there is a majority of a particular background in a certain demographic, does not make that a racist statement. Get a life.

By: awesomeX

awesomeX — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:03:38 +0000

I love the “free speech” argument some people are making..
You should go to your job and start swearing and badmouthing your fellow employees–and when your boss tries to fire you, try dropping your “FREE SPEECH” defense. See what happens….

By: Iggs_pissed_on_Dawk

Iggs_pissed_on_Dawk — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:49:45 +0000

the Iggs wanted Dawk back, but they wanted him back on the cheap. you see, banner and lurie are going for the off season salary cap championship once again and you can tell by how they boast that they will never be able to spend all of the cap room that they have. it’s not about winning or getting older because if they didn’t think that they could win with him they would not have offered him a contract. a million, two million, what kind of price do you pay for leadership like that? who are the leaders now? should have paid the man. instead they piss on him in the name of saving money. this team is def. retarded. you can have Dawk or the last guy that makes the roster. EASY choice.

By: Pea Tear Griffin

Pea Tear Griffin — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:29:22 +0000

Wow!
And the Eagles thought HE made the team look bad!
oh yea and “are there any non-Italians in Philly?”
-Yes. But this city is like 85% Italian.

By: Strider119

Strider119 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:14:34 +0000

I haven’t waded through all the comments, so this might have already been mentioned, but this guy is handicapped on top of all this other crap.
Not that it should grant him any special consideration in terms of free-freaking-speech, but still, it makes what is already a disgusting display by an organization seem even more comically horrible. It’s like the Eagles FO is run by egomaniacal caricatures of 1920′s moustache twirling villains. It’s almost like they are going out of their way to piss everyone off.

By: Andy_Reid

Andy_Reid — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:11:36 +0000

@ tomskiffington,
Your statement “we are loyal to our own detriment and they know it” could not possibly be more true.
What the Eagles brass wants is to keep the team just good enough each year to keep the fan base excited & optimistic without spending anymore than necessary to do it.

By: phillyphan68

phillyphan68 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:50:09 +0000

Gonzo wrote “The truly remarkable part about all this is that Leone isn’t bitter, and he doesn’t want revenge. He simply wants to be part of the team again.”
If that’s the case, how did he get this story? I’m sure the Eagles didn’t tell him. This guy knows it was stupid to post what he did but as an Eagles employee (full-time or seasonal) he should have known you don’t put negative comments about your employer in writing. I’m sure the Eagles have an employee handbooks that covers this – maybe he should have read that before posting his comment.
He’s now SOL…

By: drbob1

drbob1 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:47:05 +0000

Rachel was funny to say to Leone that he ” Can’t be trusted”… Say, Rach, you mean he can’t be trusted the way one of his backstabbing collegues can’t be trusted for bringing his comment to the attention of the front office in the first place? By the way, Rachel, he didn’t make the organization look bad with his comment( probably only about 5 people saw it); you made the organization look bad with your over the top decision to fire him… and for all of the ‘HR darlings’ on this website that are saying the Eagles had the “right” to fire him; of they did, it’s an ‘at will’ organization, the question before the house is “should they have fired him” and more importantly how does a guy that wrote his thesis in public policy manage to screw up from a PR standpoint every chance he gets? Let’s remember folks, the Eagles are the business, we’re the fans, if there’s a ‘disconnect’ between the fans and the team, it’s their responsibility to figure out why and to fix it. I’m tired of this team always acting like martyrs when they do something stupid.

By: awesomeX

awesomeX — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:34:08 +0000

Do any of you morons actually have a job?
You criticize ANY professional organization publicly and it is MORE THAN LIKELY you will be terminated.
You’re all acting like this is a surprising and unfair move by the Eagles….That moron has EVERY RIGHT to be fired.

By: tomskiffington

tomskiffington — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:28:25 +0000

“The Eagles just don’t understand how to deal with the Philly fans, or maybe they just don’t give a rats ass”
i’m pretty sure it’s that they don’t give a rat’s ass. they do just enough to fill the seats and sell the merchandise. and unfortunately we come crawling back for more abuse year after year. we are loyal to our own detriment and they know it.

By: Kevin from Philly

Kevin from Philly — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:43:19 +0000

The Eagles just don’t understand how to deal with the Philly fans, or maybe they just don’t give a rats ass. They seem to be destined for a “let them eat cake” PR nightmare some day, but I don’t think this is it – yet.

By: ProfNozesall

ProfNozesall — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:42:16 +0000

From the wouldn’t-know-irony-if-I-tripped-over-it dept:
“Leone said Vitagliano didn’t want to hear it. He said that she told him he couldn’t be trusted, that the post made the team look bad, and that the only way to resolve the situation was to fire him.”
Wow. His emotional post about a longtime fan favorite, apologized for and removed, made the team look bad? Not half as bad as firing this poor numbnuts just for posting what 99.9% of Eagles’ fans are saying/thinking. Talk about retarded – who would have even heard of his post, without this senseless, asinine overreaction by the Eagles’ FO?
Overall I don’t quite believe the FO are actually ‘tards, though they’re not nearly as smart as they think they are. This event does show their true character, however – they are more like … turds.
No wonder that no decent or better, experienced player wants to sign a LT deal in Philly anymore. He knows that if he does, he’ll only get screwed, sooner or later.

By: tomskiffington

tomskiffington — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:39:14 +0000

“are there any non-Italians in Philly?”
are there any non-inbreds in west virginia?
and btw, nice of you to make fun of a mentally disabled guy for his spelling and grammar mistakes. stay classy florio.

By: FireAndyReid21

FireAndyReid21 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:39:04 +0000

First off, FireAndy, worse than Braman? Come on. Just look at the track record. This organization has been WAY above average since Lurie bought it. I might not like everything they do (or don’t do)but please do not overstate it.
THis guy got fired because he did something stupid. You do not rip a company publicly that you work without expecting reprecussions.
And, contrary to the talk shows, not everyone is up and arms about Dawkins. He chose to leave for a great deal that I would have been pissed if the Eagles matched that. Dawkins is at end of his distinguished career. I must admit that I will miss him greatly but I must admit that it was sad seeing him not cover well and miss open field tackles.
Also, your anti-semite comment, is stupid far from the truth. How can you call them cheap. THey pay money, they just want to spend it on worthwhile players. For instance Asante Samuel over that b1tch Lito.
Sometimes wanting to win is to make the hard decision. Wouldn’t it have been worse to relegate Dawkins to a role player and have him passed on the depth chart? or to see him bouncing off bug WRs and chasing them? The team made the RIGHT call with: Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Trotter, Runyan, and Tra Thomas. I think they messed up with Duece. You want to hold on to people for nastalgia – you get old and stink real quick.
**********************************************************************
Smush….I don’t disagree with anything you said. Maybe I went too far with comparing Lurie to Brahman, but there are similarities between the two. Example: It was no secret that Buddy Ryan’s teams of the late 80′s needed offensive line help. Plenty of pro bowl offensive lineman were available at times (Joe Jacoby being one who wanted to come to Philadelphia). Brahman knew the offensive line was an issue and refused to ever address it. The same thing is happening now with Lurie. Donovan has needed weapons around him every year except 2004. 10 years into McNabb’s career we are still waiting fgor them to spend money on skill position players who can make a difference. All the while, the Eagles are millions upon million under the cap, year after year after year. This is the reason I call the Eagles management cheap. Sure they built a beautiful new stadium and practice facility. But these things don’t win football games.
I completely understand AND agree with the players you named and “who they were right on”. But the one difference is that Dawkins was the FACE OF THE FRANCHISE.
As far

By: footballnut

footballnut — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:28:19 +0000

If you’re a grown man you should be fired for having a Facebook page anyway…
If you are going to play with a worldwide network, becareful of what you say and the pics you post otherwise you reap what you sow.

By: east96st

east96st — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:18:16 +0000

He should start a blog called EaglesFootballTalk.com and rip the Eagles a new daily from his Sprint phone while drinking Pepsi and eating Lucky Charms.

By: empty13

empty13 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:16:52 +0000

well you go girl, spill some more…

By: johnnybroadst

johnnybroadst — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:15:21 +0000

This just in…badmouthing your employer is a bad idea.
That being said, this Eagles company has enough to worry about on the field. They should not be firing people for echoing the fan base while the team is slowly dismantled. Way to let the fans know you’re being aggressive with your personnel decisions….provided the personnel in question doesn’t wear a jersey and pads.

By: CheezWhizard

CheezWhizard — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:08:30 +0000

Wow, I’m impressed the front office got off their asses long enough to fire an employee. That’s the 2nd biggest move they have made this offseason.

By: wonderwoman3566

wonderwoman3566 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:52:17 +0000

You should hear how the non game day employees talk about the company they work for…. Everything is nice when they are inside the building….but as soon as they are out watch out….

By: alewatcher

alewatcher — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:51:56 +0000

bcity120 says:
March 9th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Wow. The Eagles are getting to be pretty ridiculous. Florio, you’re the lawyer… isn’t this free speech? Does this guy have a case?
—————-
Free speech doesn’t cover publicly bashing your employer. You are free to say what whatever you want, but your company is equally free to fire your dumb @ss.

By: Favre2012

Favre2012 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:44:48 +0000

Dawkins is washed up, this is one of the few smart decisions of the Andy Reid era.

By: DirtyBirds06

DirtyBirds06 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:44:38 +0000

Heartless city! I love my Eagles, but damn!
I have, however, read that more employers and colleges search myspace/facebook for potential employees/applicants to see what they’re really like. Ans a lot of the college recruiters won’t bring you on to their repsective campuses dur to the content on your page. Becareful of what post on these pages as it could serve detrimental.

By: brddroppings

brddroppings — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:31:42 +0000

Way to make fun of a handicapped guy for spelling mistakes…….Bravo.

By: chadp123

chadp123 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:25:47 +0000

what does a seasonal game day employee do exactly? sounds like a cool job. free admission to home games.

By: bored_of_seinfeld_jokes

bored_of_seinfeld_jokes — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:25:32 +0000

“FYI, to anyone who thinks this is an “outrage,” welcome to Corporate America! I know a few people who’ve been fired after posting negative comments and blogs on MySpace and Facebook. If you’re not bright enough to watch what you post in public forums, especially when you have fellow employees or even management added as “friends,” that’s your own problem.”
Agreed. If you are going to comment about your employer, and your comments aren’t something you’d say to the CEO’s/Owner’s/big boss’s face, then don’t post them on the Internet. If you want to complain about your employer, vent to your spouse, or your coworkers over a beer. But wtf would you go and post that online? Yeah, the Eagles probably overreacted here, but I don’t have an ounce of sympathy for this guy.
Oh, and one tip – if you’re actively interviewing, put your facebook and myspace on private. Or better yet, don’t post stupid stuff. You’d be amazed at how many people I’ve interviewed for a position, then look them up on facebook or myspace to make sure they aren’t freaks, and SURPRISE! They are quickly eliminated from consideration for a job.