Walmart fires worker for bashing Muslims
HAMBURG, N.Y. (WIVB) – An assistant manager at the Walmart in Hamburg was fired after posting comments about customers on Facebook.
A corporate spokesman says Terry Earsing is no longer with the company. Now the former assistant manager is apologizing for what he wrote.
“I’ve embarrassed my friends, my family, and myself,” Earsing said.
Earsing was fired from the Walmart on Southwestern Boulevard after posting a picture last Friday of Muslim women shopping in his store with a caption that read: “Halloween came early this year….do they really have to [expletive] dress like that…your (sic) in my country …get that [expletive] [expletive] off !!!!!”
“I apologize to everybody,” Earsing said. “Including the Muslim community. I hurt people that I didn’t know and I hurt that I did know.”
The former assistant manager says a friend took the picture.
“It started out as a joke on Facebook,” he said. “I meant it as a joke. Anyone who knows me and knows my character… I try to post funny things or black humor, but it just backfired.”
A corporate spokesman for Walmart would not state the company’s policy on social media, saying it is a personnel issue. The spokesman did say, however, the company has high expectations for its associates and Earsing failed to meet those expectations.
Mental health counselor Lynne Shine says questionable content should never be posted online.
“They like the popularity piece with being able to get feedback from everybody, and they’re not realizing the long-term ramifications,” she explained. “Even if it’s just for a time or you think it’s a funny joke or you want feedback from other people and friends, you don’t recognize: once you hit send, it’s for the world to see.”
Earsing’s post, though now taken off his Facebook page, can still be found and will be forever linked to him, including when he goes looking for another job.
“Doesn’t look too good, does it?” he acknowledged.
The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Walmart to discipline Earsing, which resulted in his eventual firing, something Earsing himself says is justified.
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