Anderson fired Sarley based on Joseph’s apparent recommendation. Two powerful men conspired to deprive a woman of her livelihood and reputation, both of whom are hypocrites.
The CEO of Bevy fired one of his employees after she was publicly shamed following an alleged altercation at a Brooklyn dog park. The woman who was fired, Emma Sarley, was terminated by Bevy after allegations that she was behaving in a racist manner at McCarren Park in Williamsburg.
The story was presented on social media by New York Times bestselling author Frederick Joseph, who said Sarley was racist toward him. Anderson fired Sarley based on Joseph's apparent recommendation. Two powerful men conspired to deprive a woman of her livelihood and reputation.
However, for all his grandstanding, Derek Anderson, that CEO who let Sarley go, has his own behavior to account for.
While he had no sympathy for his employee, he did come out suggesting that forgiveness was in order for AngelHack CEO Greg Gopman in 2013, after Gopman was shamed on social media for saying that San Francisco was turning into a disgusting, horrible place. This was a truth for which Gopman later apologized.
His initial remarks, saying that "...there is nothing more grotesque than walking down market st in San Francisco" and asking "Why the heart of our city has to be overrun by crazy, homeless, drug dealers, dropouts," caused a social media backlash for which Bevy suggested Gopman should be forgiven. When it came to empathy for his own employee, for a situation about which the details are not fully known, he did not have the same open heart.
He lamented that everyone was "piling on" Gopman, who he vouched for, but jumped on the pile for Sarley, who was given no recourse for forgiveness for the alleged incident, the details of which are still a bit foggy.
Sarley had been employed by Bevy, a virtual conference software company, before Derek Anderson, the CEO of Bevy, announced that "@BevyHQ has zero tolerance for discriminatory behavior of any kind. Yesterday an employee engaged in behavior contrary to our values and has been terminated. We apologize deeply to all involved."
He further wrote that he hopes "some kind of resolution can happen between the two parties beyond this" and said that he would "help" if he could, whatever that means. Sarley no longer has a job and in the aftermath of the shaming has deleted her LinkedIn page, according to the New York Post.
Anderson reported to Twitter that he had spoken with the man who reported Sarley on social media, Joseph, author of the book The Black Friend: On Being A Better White Person, who filmed the end of the incident he said was racist without shooting the incident itself.
Anderson would likely not have known about the incident were it not for Joseph calling it to his attention. Joseph reached out to Anderson, The American Conservative noted, and demanded social justice. "Hey," he called out to Anderson on Twitter, "I see that BevyHQ is attempting to be better about race, equity, etc. Thought you should see this. I'm hoping Black colleagues and peers don't have to face this sort of racism from Emma."
Anderson wrote that he "Spoke with @FredTJoseph about his and his fiance's horrific experience from last night. So sorry to them for what has happened. No one should treat people the way we witnessed. This is extremely troubling."
Joseph said that Sarley had confronted he and his fiance as they were leaving a Brooklyn dog park. He shot the encounter on his cell phone. Joseph tweeted out the video, saying "At the dog park in Brooklyn with my fiancé and this white woman was threatening to call police and told us to 'stay in our hood' because she had our dog confused with another dog who had been barking loudly."
In a 27 second video, a woman identified as Sarley can be seen standing outside a park. A man's voice says "Stay in our hood? No no no no no."
"Yeah!" Sarley says, before saying something unintelligible then "everyone" and giving the middle finger to the camera and reaching for the phone. The camera then pans to see the woman's back.
"Stay in our hood?" The man can be heard to say again.
"Did you say that to me?" The woman says.
Another woman's voice says "Leave the dog park and stay in our hood?" As a dog barks in the background.
Sarley look at the camera, seemingly confused, and then says "Oh my God did you just say that to me? Sh*t," with slurred words.
The other woman's voice then calls her a "Karen," before Joesph, shooting the incident, turns to a white guy holding a beer and asks him to verify what Sarley said. The man does as Joseph asks and confirms that Sarley said what Joseph accused her of saying.
In response to Sarley's firing, Joseph said on Twitter "I've been told that @DerekjAndersen and @bevyhq have let go of Emma Sarley, as her racism against me and fiance doesn't align with their values. I hope this is a lesson in accountability and consequences for Emma and others."
Joseph had made his own comments about people being in the wrong neighborhoods based on their racial composition alone. In August, he said there were "So many white people and police officers in Harlem it doesn't even feel comfortable."
Joseph has called out "problematic" white people over and over, it turns out.
Seems to be an ongoing thing with him. pic.twitter.com/9ow8ZlqNmk
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze)
In 2012, Anderson imitated the accent of an Asian person for whom English is a second language, and made fund of Asian's in general for their dominance in Silicon Valley.
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In 2010 he essentially "fat shamed" a reality tv star.
In 2009, he made fund of human trafficking and joked about selling his wife on Craigslist.
It turns out that Joseph and Anderson are both hypocrites, and they ruined a woman's life over the kind of problematic comments that they themselves are both guilty of making. Joseph doesn't want white people in Harlem, Anderson thinks it's okay for him to make jokes that, given the current climate, are substantially offensive by the standards of social justice.
