SOVIET MOMENT OF THE WEEK: CEO of weapon manufactor forced to step down - he votes for the wrong guy

[Hedgehog]

Dan Cooper, CEO of Cooper Firearms, were forced to step down by the board.
Reason was he admitted in an interview that he wasn't gonna vote for McCain but for Obama.

LMFAO?
What happened to respecting the election process?
That's not important?
   

[Eyeball Chambers]

That's what gets me, many of these McCain supporters act like they're going to call the Gestapo when they find out you don't support the Republican candidate.

[w8tlftr]

Dan Cooper, CEO of Cooper Firearms, were forced to step down by the board.
Reason was he admitted in an interview that he wasn't gonna vote for McCain but for Obama.

LMFAO?
What happened to respecting the election process?
That's not important?
   

Now tell the whole story, Zack.

BTW, I feel for the guy but he is was the head of a company that sold guns. His choice (which he made public) was not appreciated by his customers who then decided to boycott the business.

Cooper then decided, of his own free will, to resign because he did not want to further hurt the company or it's employees.

[Eyeball Chambers]

Now tell the whole story, Zack.

What did he leave out? 

[Dan-O]

If the CEO doesn't represent the values of the board, they're within their rights to give him the boot.  He has the right to vote any way he pleases, and they have the right to give him the heave-ho for any reason they wish.

Attorneys...  am I right??

[w8tlftr]

What did he leave out? 

See my above edited post, RPF.

[Hereford]

Unions have been telling their people how to vote since their inception.

[Hedgehog]

Now tell the whole story, Zack.

BTW, I feel for the guy but he is was the head of a company that sold guns. His choice (which he made public) was not appreciated by his customers who then decided to boycott the business.

Cooper then decided, of his own free will, to resign because he did not want to further hurt the company or it's employees.

from what I understand, he wasn't backed by the board and they asked him to resign.
Which he did willingly.
I think it's wrong when the right of free vote isn't respected.
The right to pick whatever political party isn't something your employer ever should even have opinions on.
That's a private matter.
The whole idea that he's leaving because of what he's voting for is just absurd.

This is like the Commies in Soviet, if you supported the wrong guy in the Party, your career was fcuked. 

[Dos Equis]

Now tell the whole story, Zack.

BTW, I feel for the guy but he is was the head of a company that sold guns. His choice (which he made public) was not appreciated by his customers who then decided to boycott the business.

Cooper then decided, of his own free will, to resign because he did not want to further hurt the company or it's employees.

Sucks for him, but he made his own bed.  Should have kept his endorsement to himself.  I would have asked him to resign too if customers were boycotted. 

[Hedgehog]

If the CEO doesn't represent the values of the board, they're within their rights to give him the boot.  He has the right to vote any way he pleases, and they have the right to give him the heave-ho for any reason they wish.

Attorneys...  am I right??

Let me ask you this:
how important do you think the freedom of speech and right to free elections are in a democracy?  

[w8tlftr]

from what I understand, he wasn't backed by the board and they asked him to resign.
Which he did willingly.
I think it's wrong when the right of free vote isn't respected.
The right to pick whatever political party isn't something your employer ever should even have opinions on.
That's a private matter.
The whole idea that he's leaving because of what he's voting for is just absurd.

This is like the Commies in Soviet, if you supported the wrong guy in the Party, your career was fcuked. 

Freedom of speech is a double edged sword.

He was the CEO of a company that manufactures guns. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say his clients are strong proponents of the 2nd Amendment and they do not believe Obama when he says he will not take their rifles or hand guns away. They are within their rights to boycott the company - that's their free speech. His public choice hurt his company, it's employees, and it's stockholders.

[Hedgehog]

Sucks for him, but he made his own bed.  Should have kept his endorsement to himself.  I would have asked him to resign too if customers were boycotted. 

Sorry, I have to disagree with you.
Was it wise of him to admit who he votes for? I don't think so.
It would've been fine if he would have had to step down because he talked PERSONAL POLITIC VIEWS period.
But now it's just because he picks the wrong guy?

   

[Dos Equis]

Sorry, I have to disagree with you.
Was it wise of him to admit who he votes for? I don't think so.
It would've been fine if he would have had to step down because he talked PERSONAL POLITIC VIEWS period.
But now it's just because he picks the wrong guy?

   

Hedge I don't think it was because he picked the wrong guy.  It was because he talked about it publicly and the customers threatened a boycott.  I wouldn't have a problem with this if the customers had not reacted, but the company made a business decision.  Nobody in the private sector has free speech rights.  You say whatever your boss, board, company, customers, etc. allow you to say. 

[Dan-O]

Let me ask you this:
how important do you think the freedom of speech and right to free elections are in a democracy?  

Mr. Cooper absolutely has his freedom of speech and his right to vote in our democracy.

HOWEVER, Cooper Firearms is NOT a democracy, it's a private entity--and his if Dan's exercise of his right to free speech adversely affects their bottom line then that's another issue entirely.  It wasn't his views per se that got him axed...  it was the fact that those views ran counter to those of Cooper Firearms' customer base and adversely affected their business, and as such they made an appropriate business decision.

He's not under any penalty of the law, but he's gonna have to look for another job.  Isn't capitalism great?

[Dan-O]

Remember the story a few years back about the Microsoft employee (ok, actually he was a temp who was working there) who got canned because he posted a pic in his blog of Apple computers being delivered to MS headquarters?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/146115_blogger30.html

He had his freedom of speech but when MS perceived his free speech as a threat to their business, they exercised their right to terminate his employment.

[Hedgehog]

Remember the story a few years back about the Microsoft employee (ok, actually he was a temp who was working there) who got canned because he posted a pic in his blog of Apple computers being delivered to MS headquarters?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/146115_blogger30.html

He had his freedom of speech but when MS perceived his free speech as a threat to their business, they exercised their right to terminate his employment.