Updated on November 15, 2016
Can't I just order my food without politics getting in the way?
The CEO of GrubHub, an online food delivery service, wants to get rid of any employee who does not share his political beliefs. Matt Maloney, sent a politically charged email to employees setting off a firestorm and potentially pissing off half of their customers. So much so that their stock dropped 5% after the email was released! Oops. Its true that a careful reading of the email shows he doesn't want to fire those employees but that's not how people and the financial markets are reacting to it. It just created more conflict and puts many people in an uncomfortable position on both sides of the political isle. For those who agree with the CEO, what happens if you have a different point of view on the next political topic? There's the door!
The CEO told Fox News that “almost 20 percent” of his employees have personally thanked him for the note. “I am not embarrassed by it,” the CEO said. What about the other 80%? I can't speak for them but I think many would think this is crossing the line. Do employees need to have the same political beliefs as their employer. There are negatives to both candidates and everyone can make up their own mind as how to vote.
Yesterday, the CEO backpedaled to clarify that he welcomes all employees regardless of their political beliefs. The company is based in Chicago which overwhelmingly voted for Hillary (zoom in to see the county level results). This is the same city where a group of Hillary supporters recently recorded themselves yelling “You voted Trump” while 3 men beat and carjacking a man on the streets of Chicago. It should be painfully obvious that the CEO wouldn't support this type of behavior even though the attackers clearly support the same candidate. Neither candidate has a clean record in this department. We all lose.
Many users have responded by leaving messages to the CEO via 1 star reviews in the app store and the android app store (google play):
One United pilot has the right idea when he said passengers need to keep politics off the plane. I couldn't agree more! And I think politics has no place interfering with my food order, either. Both candidates seem to be hated by about half the country but that doesn't mean everyone supports everything their candidates say or do.
I welcome all readers regardless of political beliefs. Agree or disagree, both are ok. Back to travel, miles, promotions. Here are some other food delivery companies which will be happy to have your business and don't seem to care about how you voted. They just want to delivery you some food. These are referral links – thank you in advance if you use them.
- Delivery.com $7 free food for new users
- Doordash.com – $7 free food for new users
- Trycaviar.com – $20 free food for new users
- UberEats – $15 free food for new users with promo code EATS-UBERTAKEFREERIDE
Now… time to order my politics-free dinner.
I hope the 5% drop is just the beginning. It’s not okay to refuse service if you don’t agree with someone’s beliefs but yet he thinks it’s okay to fire someone (legally, maybe it is). He’s going to feel the effect of social media over this. The backpedaling is just CYA – he typed exactly what he meant.
My experience with Uber’s food delivery service has been very good.
Looks like the author of this article is a trump supporter
I support a politics-free dining experience.
Considering you’ll be eating at home, you’ve got it. Your headline is a shameful lie. He hasn’t said anyone will be fired.
It’s not a direct quote, but its how people and the financial markets reacted.
I support a politics free blogging on Boarding area too. The only thing we should be talking about here is the impact of a trump presidency on Dodd-Frank or the CFPB – substantive political issues. I think everyone below addressed the problem with this article. Showing a youtube video of disgusting anti-trump supporters who had nothing to do with the CEO shows your partisanship – where is the link to the increased nazi propaganda or spike in hate crimes after the result or the KKK announcing a pro-trump celebration rally…
Well hey I prefer blog posts that have a fucking point but we can’t all get what we want.
Let’s just watch the news in a few days to see him resigning. Or, retiring.
BS. GrubHub – regardless of whether you’re Republican or Democrat – called out inappropriate behavior that would get any of us fired. Be very clear: this is unacceptable speech that any HR office would claim as a potentially terminating offense. Period.
You also failed to comment about Trump incited violence in Illinois.
Both candidates have done things that would get us regular people fired. Both have incited violence. So why not call out inappropriate behavior on both candidates?
You still haven’t. You only called out one.
The CEO already did. My point was that the CEO is condemning certain actions that are being done by supporters of both sides.
I dont recall one candidate saying she wouldnt accept the election result, “grabbing em by the…”, or claiming large segments of the US population should be thrown out or barred based on religion or race.
I dunno, this doesn’t smack of partisanship to me. A lot of people are genuinely terrified in the wake of someone with perceived white nationalist tendencies winning the White House. Maloney seems like he’s trying to communicate that his employees should feel safe at work and that he rejects the threatening xenophobia and racism and homophobia associated with Trump’s election.
He shouldn’t have approvingly quoted Hillary at the end– that part *does* seem overtly partisan– and he should have been more artful about the call for resignations. But I don’t think (/hope) he was saying “All Trump voters are unwelcome” so much as “All racists and homophobes and xenophobes are unwelcome”– which seems like a pretty standard dictate from a CEO trying to preserve a culturally sensitive and diverse workplace.
This is a tough election to talk about, because if you’re gay or black or Latino or Muslim, the election of Donald Trump to the presidency isn’t simply a matter of “politics” but a direct threat to the basic human rights of you and your family. Telling people threatened by oppression to stop “talking about politics” is pretty darn privileged/inhumane, don’t you think?
I never said people should stop talking about politics. Quite the opposite – everyone should be able to talk about it 100% but politics on a plane is a bad idea. Lots of CEOs have voiced their support for their candidates and none (I dont think) causing a stir like this. In Florida, more than 1/3 of Latinos voted Trump. Muslim votes also helped him win…so I dont think one can generalize and speak on behalf of everyone.
Guess you would have also supported segregated places to eat back in the 60s. What a way to take a stand.
Bad guess. So are you saying the United pilot was wrong to demand people not discuss politics on the plane (right after a heated argument on the plane)? You’ve got lots of people of different nationalities and religions and opinions crammed into a tight space.
There’s a reason people say not to discuss politics at work…because everyone has their own opinions and you’ve got to work with those people.
While I agree with many of the things he said in his letter, this is the wrong forum.
You’re a douche blogger that is badly using politics to plug your bs referral links to pump more money in your wallet. FU. The earlier comments were right in that you totally misrepresented what the CEO said. That said you should blog for Breitbart.
As a CEO one should be a little less bold while basically “inviting” Trump’s supporters to quit.
He later tried to explain that his comments were “misconstructed” haha. Probably he came to that conclusion right after Board of Directors and shareholders screamed at him for sounding like an a**hole.
I think he got a lot of s… already for saying what he truly believed in. Yet only 20% his employees wrote back to thank him. So 80% was like “yea whatever man”.
You are all complete asshats, especially whoever the hell this blogger is. The CEO made absolutely 0 mention about Trump supporters being fired. It was simply an over-fluffed HR reminder that hate speech is not allowed and that anyone who threatens others will have to take it up with HR. Don’t be a fucking idiot and read what you’re actually posting.
I guess you didn’t read what I wrote.
You said “For those who agree with the CEO, what happens if you have a different point of view on the next political topic? There’s the door!”
Clearly, the memo is targetted at those who might think certain BEHAVIORS are now OK. Sexual Assault for most people, is not a matter of political opinion, or your party affiliation.
YMMV.
Agreed. Neither is regular assault but it exists on both sides.
I work for one of Big 4. We also got 2 emails regarding the election and “the day after”. Yet, it was tasteful, open-minded and re-assuring to read. Not shaming people who voted for the “wrong” candidate.
So, his mistake was using Trump as an example of behaviours that are repugnant and common HR action would likely be firing.
Got it.
It is pretty amazing that America wouldn’t TOLERATE Bill Clinton getting a voluntary BJ in the Oval Office. I voted against Bill Clinton, and would have been happy to see him brought down back then. But now we’ll happily elect a man who likes to “grab them by the pussy”, and blithely insult disabled people etc. I still can’t believe it.
Could you please change the headline to accurately reflect what the message said? Your headline is 100% false.
Disclosure: I live in Europe. It amazes me how people like Maloney “absolutely rejects anti-immigrant politics” but would change their mind the minute an immigrant/a refugee bombs their mall, attacks innocent people in the train or harass their daughter in public in daylight. This is a reality now in Germany, Greece or Sweden just to name a few countries that tried to be sooooo “open” and pro-immigration.
your blog sucks, you should fire yourself
Liberals are the most hate filled people you will ever meet, yet they love to pat themselves on the back for being so tolerant and inclusive…except of course republicans, christians, and anyone else who commits the unforgivable offense of not perfectly toeing the liberal line. The comments here and the actions of the Grubhub CEO are good examples. The fragile little snowflakes are now either rioting or seeking therapy. Grow up, toddlers.
The title of your story appears to be inconsistent with the message from this CEO. I didn’t see anywhere in the article where he said, “Voted for Trump? You’re Fired!” If you can kindly direct me to where he said this in the message that would be helpful.
However, I did see where he indicated that if employees of his company did not agree with his statement that, “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” could reply to his email with “your” resignation. If that’s the piece of the article that inspired the title of your column then I would recommend a re-read as this makes your title misleading, at the best, or I fear a self-serving interpretation.
BOTH candidates “have incited violence”? Really? Clearly, only ONE candidate fomented and exploited hatred in order to get elected.
Grub Hub’s CEO should be applauded for attempting to assure his employees that that kind of rhetoric is NOT what makes this country “great”.
Neither is exploiting serious issues for click bait. You’re out of your league on this…stick to MS or whatever your claimed expertise is.
Wow people are sensitive. I think many of the comments in your post prove your point. I didn’t know there was so much hate until after the election.
I agree with your post, I guess I was in lala land until the election unmasked all of the ugliness and meanness. The comments here are perfect examples of people feeling like it’s OK to say awful things in awful ways. It’s one thing for a comment to say “dude, I disagree with you, we should be able to speak about politics wherever and whenever” and quite another to say “You are all complete asshats, especially whoever the hell this blogger is.” People are the problem, not just the politicians they vote for. Trump didn’t create the ugly, hate-spewing environment, he has just emboldened the folks who are already disgusting inside. As a life-long Republican, I can fondly recall that not too long ago, it was socially acceptable to disagree with others, have an interesting political conversation, and not feel like people will attack you/your beliefs/your fundamental value as a human OR convert you to their side… as if anything short of total agreement is heresy and a judgement on your value as a human. I also agree with the earlier comment that “It is pretty amazing that America wouldn’t TOLERATE Bill Clinton getting a voluntary BJ in the Oval Office. I voted against Bill Clinton, and would have been happy to see him brought down back then. But now we’ll happily elect a man who likes to “grab them by the pussy”, and blithely insult disabled people etc. I still can’t believe it.” Just because I’m a registered Rep doesn’t mean I always need to vote down the ticket or support someone who I don’t believe represents the values of a country which is already pretty great.
To anyone wondering how Trump was elected President, this blog post does a very good job demonstrating just how incapable many Americans are at understanding even very simple concepts, like the email of this CEO. If this email had been the basis of a series of SAT questions, it is clear the author of this blog would have struggled to answer any of those questions correctly. Indeed, the author’s current post demonstrates such a lack of reading comprehension that I question whether anything else posted on this blog could possibly be accurate.
I encourage the author to revisit the email that forms the topic of this blog and update this post accordingly.
+1
No where in the statement does he say he will fire Trump supporters. He said he would protect his employees from the vast discriminatory language that Trump used and would fire employees for doing the same. This article is very misleading. I will continue to use Grubhub and stop reading The Rewards Boss. Good bye.
Censor much?
Hilarious how Hillary supporters are angry at this blog and media for this letter the CEO agreed with. The CEO is hysterical and saying how Trump is racist when it is simply not true. Even the niece of Martin Luther King says people are blowing this out of proportion. This is akin to bullying tactics with political bias. CEO should be fired by the board and I’m glad the stock is going down. Shame on some commenters here.
The CEO probably could have worded his email more sensibly, but please tell me which part of his message do you not agree with?
Grab a random video clip from the many Trump rallies and ask yourself if there will be HR repercussions if you repeated his words at your day job (assuming you have one). Corporate America requires many of us to go through regular training on respect, ethics, conflict of interest, etc. While using our president-elect as a teaching example may seem ironic, he’s on record with many behaviors that’d result in immediate termination from not only GrubHub, but any self-respecting company in this country.
Both candidates have done things that would get a regular person fired.
As for the 80% of employees who did not personally thank the CEO for the email… do note that in the corporate world, the vast majority of employees never respond directly to the CEOs.
If I ever email a large group of people and get 20% to respond, I’d consider it a high success.