Reforming the use of English pronouns has nothing to do with the employee's professional activities.
No one should be threatened for either supporting or not supporting a political cause or brand of activism.
There is no consensus in society about how pronouns should be used or their cultural significance [1]. No one should have their livelihood threatened for either agreeing or not agreeing with one position or another or not having an opinion on the topic, or applying their professional, technical judgement.
Without commenting on the details of the kerfuffle, from a broader perspective, the workplace should not be a place for political coercion.
One editorial recently suggested that:
"[E]mployers coercing employees to express their employers’ political views is “the most undercovered story of the year.” [2]
"Already, American employers are increasingly using the captive audience technique to force their employees to learn about the employer’s political and religious views. During these sessions, employees may be forced, at the risk of losing their jobs, to listen to their employer’s perspective on the latest political and religious issues of the day." [3]
> If Ben can’t learn, we’ll fire him.
Reforming the use of English pronouns has nothing to do with the employee's professional activities.
No one should be threatened for either supporting or not supporting a political cause or brand of activism.
There is no consensus in society about how pronouns should be used or their cultural significance [1]. No one should have their livelihood threatened for either agreeing or not agreeing with one position or another or not having an opinion on the topic, or applying their professional, technical judgement.
Without commenting on the details of the kerfuffle, from a broader perspective, the workplace should not be a place for political coercion.
One editorial recently suggested that:
"[E]mployers coercing employees to express their employers’ political views is “the most undercovered story of the year.” [2]
"Already, American employers are increasingly using the captive audience technique to force their employees to learn about the employer’s political and religious views. During these sessions, employees may be forced, at the risk of losing their jobs, to listen to their employer’s perspective on the latest political and religious issues of the day." [3]
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-...
[2] http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2012_12/...
[3] http://yalelawjournal.org/the-yale-law-journal-pocket-part/v...
[4] Efforts to keep politics out of the workplace: http://votesmart.org/bill/1711/