An employee who decided not to work because he was 'mourning' the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade has been fired.
Former production coordinator at Universal Music Enterprises, Michael Lopez, has accused his workplace of being ‘anti-gay’ for firing a ‘brown queer person’ during pride month, according to the New York Post.
Lopez shared in a letter via Linkedin that he was fired after missing a day of work following the ‘devastating’ Supreme Court verdict.
He also accused the company of historically donating to Republican politicians responsible for ‘stripping’ the rights of minorities away.
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He wrote: “Last Friday, like countless other folks, I was devastated by the news of the Supreme Court's attack on abortion rights.
“Paired with the flood of anti-queer and anti-trans legislation, it's been hard to process how company's [sic] expect us to be productive while our rights are being stripped away.
"Especially when our company has been donating to several of these politicians.”
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Lopez revealed that he must ‘process reports for upcoming releases’ every week and distribute them via an email chain of 275 people.
However, instead of writing his usual report, Lopez emailed all his co-workers to explain how he was feeling
“I didn't do them today," he said. “I'm in mourning due to the attack on people with uteruses in the US. Federally guaranteed access to abortion is gone.
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“Vivendi and Universal Music Group must stop donating to anti-abortion, anti-queer and anti-trans politicians. Politicians like Marsha Blackburn, Ken Buck, Victoria Spartz, etc. Or expect more unproductive days.”
After the email was sent, Lopez said that he initially received support from his colleagues and his manager told him to take the rest of the day off.
The next morning, the former employee was 'surprised' to receive a Zoom call from HR, which notified him of his termination for ‘disrupting the day of 275 people and poor judgment’.
Shortly after, Lopez sent a follow-up email sharing his firing, writing: “Just got fired for this email from Friday, so they’re letting you know where they stand on employees speaking out on politicians that support marginalisation for folks like me.
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“A brown queer person terminated during Pride month speaking in support of abortion rights. Seems like that’s exactly what America is all about right now.”
A spokesperson for Universal Music Group told the New York Post that Lopez’s post was ‘inaccurate’ and the company has a long history of supporting women.
They added: “In the wake of the recent US Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v Wade, the company has extended its efforts to assure that these important healthcare services remain accessible to employees.
“We also financially support non-profit groups working in this area and offer a match for employee’s contributions to those groups, as well.”
Charisa Bossinakis