Boss tells pro-Trump employees to resign

A CEO’s email told employees who supported Mr Trump’s attitudes to resign. He says he doesn’t tolerate “hateful attitudes” on his team.

Matt Maloney, CEO of online food delivery service Grubhub.

IF YOU voted for Donald Trump, you may not feel welcome at Grubhub.

The CEO of Grubhub, a US online food delivery service, sent a company-wide email on Wednesday suggesting employees who agreed with President-elect Donald Trump’s behaviours and his campaign rhetoric should resign.

“If you do not agree with this statement then please reply to this email with your resignation because you have no place here,” wrote Matt Maloney, co-founder of Grubhub. “We do not tolerate hateful attitudes on our team.”

GrubHub does not tolerate hate and we are proud of all our employees, regardless what you may have read. https://t.co/jF6oG6hg6M

— Matt Maloney (@M3aloney) November 11, 2016

Mr Maloney, a Hillary Clinton supporter, sent the email Wednesday afternoon with the subject line, “So … that happened … what’s next?” He made it clear in the email statement that he was personally stunned and deeply concerned with the results of Tuesday’s election.

“I absolutely reject the nationalist, anti-immigrant and hateful politics of Donald Trump and will work to shield our community from this movement as best as I can,” Mr Maloney wrote about Mr Trump’s supporters.

“I want to reaffirm to anyone on our team that is scared or feels personally exposed, that I and everyone else here at Grubhub will fight for your dignity and your right to make a better life for yourself and your family here in the United States.”

The CEO made it clear he was particularly concerned Mr Trump’s victory would empower others in his workplace to act out against marginalised groups.

He stands by the email, which he said many employees appreciated.

“While demeaning, insulting, and ridiculing minorities, immigrants, and the physically/mentally disabled worked for Mr Trump, I want to be clear that this behaviour — and these views — have no place at Grubhub,” Mr Maloney explained.

Adding, if it were up to him, Mr Trump would have been fired a long time ago. “Had he worked here, many of his comments would have resulted in his immediate termination.”

Mr Maloney told Fox News that “almost 20 per cent” of his employees had personally thanked him for the note. “I am not embarrassed by it,” he said.

The CEO said that he deeply respected the right of people to vote for whoever they decide, but that he simply wanted to “reassure our employees that our company will actively support diversity and inclusion — regardless of national politics”.

This letter is noteworthy because it underscores the fine line between the intersection of politics and business, especially given the divisive presidential campaign of the past year and a half.

Bruce Tulgan, author of It’s OK to be the Boss, called the letter “extraordinary” because while a CEO has a right to build the kind of corporate culture he or she wants — Mr Tulgan advises business leaders to stay away from politics.

“Much of that message could have been communicated without making direct reference to the election,” he said of Mr Maloney’s email. “Anytime you are talking about things that are not work at work you’re risking potentially alienating people, making people feel uncomfortable or unwelcome at work.”

Mark Horstman, co-founder of Manager Tools, said if he were advising Mr Maloney — he would have recommended he not send the note particularly because he’s the CEO of a public company.

“That note could be construed by his employees that someone who voted for Trump could be fired,” said Mr Horstman, who suspects other CEOs have sent similar notes. “It has a chilling effect on people’s perception of their rights.”

While Mr Maloney seemingly calls out Mr Trump supporters at his company on the one hand, the young CEO boasted about the company’s supportive and inclusive culture on the other, saying he “firmly believes that we must bring together different perspectives.”

Evoking Clinton’s campaign slogan, Mr Maloney said we are “stronger together,” and ended his letter to his employees by echoing Clinton’s concession speech, saying Trump’s administration “deserves our open minds and a chance to lead”.

He ended the letter imploring his employees to “stay strong”.

This article originally appeared on Fox News and was reproduced with permission.