The head of human resources at GitHub has resigned over the dismissal of the company of a Jewish employee who warned his Washington colleagues to monitor the Nazis.
The platform owned by Microsoft, which software developers use to share and collaborate on the code, said its head of HR took “personal responsibility” for the flap and resigned on Saturday after an external investigation found flaws in the way the completion was carried out.
The unidentified employee was destroyed on Jan. 8, two days after he sent a Slack message urging DC area co-workers to be careful while Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
“Stay safe, the Nazis are ready,” the staff wrote, according to TechCrunch.
Photos of the Capitol riots showed the insurgents carrying a variety of Nazi and white supremacist symbols. For example, authorities arrested last week Robert Keith Packer, a Virginia man seen wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words “Auschwitz Camp,” an apparent reference to the famous Nazi death camp.
Despite this fact, one of the staff members complained about his message and a human resources representative stated in dismissing him that he had shown a “pattern of behavior that is not conducive to company policy.” he told TechCrunch.
According to Business Insider, the dismissal of the employee provoked a reaction among many of his GitHub colleagues, who circulated a letter demanding the company to denounce the Nazis and white supremacy.
GitHub commissioned an independent investigation on Jan. 11 that unearthed “significant errors of judgment and procedure” in the case, chief operating officer Erica Brescia said in a blog post Sunday.
“In light of these findings, we immediately reversed the decision to separate from the employee and we are in communication with their representative,” he wrote. “We want to say publicly to the employee: we sincerely apologize.”
GitHub did not immediately respond to an email Monday asking if staff have returned to work there.
Brescia did not identify the HR executive who resigned as a result of the investigation, but Carrie Olesen was listed as head of human resources on the GitHub website earlier this month, according to an archived version of the website . Olesen’s name no longer appeared on the site Monday morning.
Brescia also acknowledged that “Nazis and white supremacists” were part of the crowd that carried out the “terrifying” attack on the Capitol that left five people dead and forced lawmakers to hide.
“Employees are free to express concerns about Nazis, anti-Semitism, white supremacy or any other form of discrimination or harassment in internal discussions,” the Bresica blog post said.
“We expect all employees to be respectful, professional and to follow GitHub’s policies on discrimination and harassment.”