More fun with career damage!

Yesterday, I posted about two young GM engineers - lunkheads, both - who lost their jobs after they took a couple of the Corvettes they were working on out for a 100 m.p.h./120 m.p.h spin.

There are, of course, a lot of different ways to damage your career.

Another one popped my way last week by way of Twitter. I don't follow Bradley P. Moss, an attorney who focuses on national security issues and has plenty of things to say about the whistleblower and Trump. But some tweeters that I do follow do follow him, so there he was, showing the world a couple of email threats he'd received from one Eric Ziegler.

Now these sorts of attacks are pretty common Twitter fare. But when folks send over-the-top attacks - as in you're a liberal so you are "pretty much fucking deranged in the head"..."can't wait to see you die from a mental breakdown" - to those that they have political disagreements with, they tend not to use their corporate email and signature.

Not Eric Ziegler. Say it loud, say it proud. I'm Inpro's Director of Corporate Development and General Manager of their Charlotte office. And I, apparently, approved this mesage, and its followup, which were vile, moronic, and vaguely threatening. Wonder what Ziegler has in mind when he mentions "a cure to eradicate"? Inquiring minds of the liberal persuasion sure would like to know.

Moss clapped back at Inpro Corp, as did a number of Tweeters. Here's Moss's clap:

I understand your company has hosted events for the president, and I certainly don’t begrudge anyone their political views. I simply want to ensure you are aware this is how one of your management team is using his company email: to send me hate mail (Source: Twitter)

Anyway, when I first saw this, I went to look for Ziegler's LinkedIn, found it, and then figured I could come back again for another look. Ah, no. When I went to find it the second time, alas, it was removed. So I figured Ziegler had gotten - at minimum - his wrists slapped.

After all, his company may be big Trump supporters, but they do claim a philosphy that suggests that this is not the sort of behavior that the company - which is headquartered in Wisconsin and makes "stuff" like window, door and wall treatments, bathroom stalls and elevator interiors that go into commercial buildings - would welcome in its employees. 

Because our employees are such an instrumental part of ensuring that success, we hold them to a high standard of conduct. Inpro has no tolerance for hateful acts, discrimination, unethical behavior or any other forms of misconduct that does not reflect our corporate philosophy and values. We constantly work to foster a culture of service, respect, innovation and responsibility. We are committed to the ongoing pursuit of these values in our actions with our customers, employees and anyone in the communities we serve.

We are grateful for those who have worked with us and who have had the opportunity to let us demonstrate our culture firsthand.

I can't imagine that any company would condone Ziegler's behavior. Unlike the two knuckleheads I wrote about yesterday, who may have had a lapse in judgment and just given into that temptation to zoom around in a Corvette, but who may be decent individuals, Eric Ziegler's mini-screeds suggest a person with character flaws, a toxic jerk who I can't imagine anyone would want to deal with.

Both of the GM employees who took the Corvettes out for a high-speed spin were fired. Their resumes suggest well-educated, high-skilled guys - engineers who'll probably get picked up somewhere. They just won't be working at GM. A career speedbump, but likely not fatal. Nor should it be, IMHO.

But what about Eric Ziegler? Other than the disappearing act for his LinkedIn profile, did Inpro actually do anything? Did he lose his job?

A closer look at the company, and one finds that the chairman is also named Ziegler. And there are a couple of other Zieglers there, too. Common enough name. Sort of. I'm guessing Eric Ziegler has got friends - maybe even a dad - in high places in the organization. Which is generally a foolproof strategy if you're going to behave like a fool. 

Moss says that he wouldn't ordinarily "out" a-holes who send outright nasty and quasi-threatening messages. But when this guy used corporate email, and included his credentials in the note, well, that was a bit too much for Moss. 

I suspect Ziegler gets to keep his cushy job and cushy title, courtesy of daddy dearest. (Who, I suspect, gave sonny boy a cheerful-earful about his stupidity.) But would you want to do business with this guy? I sure wouldn't. And I bet there are plenty more like me out there. Supporting Trump may not be a dealbreaker, but this level of toxic douchebaggery sure is.