Real estate agent sacked after comments mocking struggling tenants
An Australian estate agent has been sacked after making comments on Facebook about rental tenants.
30-year-old Aimee Marsh was sacked by Brisbane business Ray White Aspley over a series of comments made on social media about low income renters.
She lost her job on Tuesday (22 August) as part of the backlash against the comments she made on Facebook.
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In the now deleted comments, which were heavily punctuated by emojis, she wrote that they 'probably earn $50k a year and are envious of me' before going on to write: "I pay twice their wage in tax or I probably pay their Centrelink wages."
In other comments, which have also been deleted, she said she 'can't wait to sell the houses they rent' and called them 'a disgrace and irrelevant'.
According to 7News, she had also made disparaging comments about people who didn't own their own homes, with the Australian outlet reporting that she suggested those who didn't own a home weren't willing to make 'sacrifices'.
They report that in other comments she wrote: "People like people who sugar-coat crap. I’ll happily tell someone to get a job, if they want to buy a home. How else do you expect to do it?
"People who are in your situation only need to speak to a broker to get yourself out of said situation. There are so many different avenues and schemes for people these days."
"And there are different ways to make living easier but people just don’t want to. They want the premium lifestyle, or things their way."
"In a tough world, people need to learn to make sacrifices to get back on top. Not many people are willing to."
Marsh has said the comments were posted a year ago and meant to defend herself against attacks on her ability as an estate agent.
The now deleted comments were on a Facebook page in northern Brisbane, an area where she worked, and she said they had been taken out of context.
She said: "It was literally a post to say congrats on sellers achieving $85k more on their auction results.
"I’m not sorry for what I said, I’m sorry that it offended people. It was literally targeted at people that were targeting me."
They also report that she says she has received a torrent of 'vile threats and abuse' since the comments gained wider notice.
Her former employer has offered her counselling, with Ray White Queensland saying her comments 'do not align with the values of our business' and offering an apology to anyone offended.
Topics: Australia, Social Media
Joe Harker