August 11th, 2014 a
woman named Carol Jumper was laid off from her job working at an Oral Surgeons
Office because she was diagnosed with cancer. Upon reading the previous
sentence I am sure feelings of outrage and indignation would rise in many
people. That one sentence likely represents all the facts the majority of the
people commenting on social media cared to discover before posting rage filled
and hateful comments all across the internet about this subject.
Carol Jumper worked had been
working for Dr. Visnich at his Oral Surgery Office for 12 years when she was
diagnosed with cancer. Dr. Visnich then sent her a letter telling her that
because of her condition, “you will not be able to function in my office at the
level required while battling for your life. Because of this, I am laying you
off without pay as of August 11, 2014. Your last paycheck will be mailed to you
this Friday, 8/15/14.” Most news outlets that I have obtained information from
chose to select only this portion of the letter to disclose.
This man, Dr. Visnich, has been
turned into a villain on social media. The hateful masses were only fueled by
the initial reaction the media had to discovering the letter. It all started
when one of Jumper’s friends got a hold of her letter and uploaded it to
Facebook. It went viral quickly and spread across the internet. People were outraged about how evil and sinister this man was. On
yellowpages.com his office has averaged a one star rating. The following review
from Brandon W. is typical of the many one star reviews posted, “I hope you
lose your business, your money, and everything you love. You'll rot in a
special corner of hell.” On Facebook
there are many comments referencing Dr. Visnich such as the one posted by Julio
A. Diaz, “You my s***** sir are a prick b****** a****** m************ piece of
s*** b****** cold hearted c*** ******* slimmy sleeze bucket that deserves to
lose your business.” After being threatened and attacked on social
media sites, Dr. Visnich asked his lawyer to help him clarify his intentions.
His lawyer reported that Dr. Visnich realized that Jumper was going to be going
through a very difficult time in her life and working at the office was not going to be something on her list of most fun things. He laid her off and did not fire her so that she could receive unemployment benefits. She filed a claim for
unemployment and he did not contest it.
I believe that Dr. Visnich was a
victim of his own poor communication. I believe that he actually was trying to
do a good thing and had no malicious intent. Because of his choice of words and
medium for delivering the message about laying off Jumper people across the
internet quickly vilified him and began a quest of expressing rage towards
him.
Dr. Visnich chose to send a letter
only and send no other communique about Jumper being laid off. The fact that it
was a letter communicates something. In this situation Jumper was an employee of
12 years for Dr. Visnich. Sending a letter felt impersonal and harsh to the
public hearing about this story, despite it being handwritten. If I sent a
letter of complaint or compliment to a company CEO and received back hand
written letter, I would feel it was a personal touch and gratifying. In this
situation it was the wrong choice, unless he called her first and the letter
was just a formality. He should have
taken the time to call her and talk to her about the situation. He should have
explained to her what his plan was and how she would be able to receive unemployment.
He specifically stated in the letter why she was being let go. It was very
clear that it had nothing to do with her misconduct and was because she would
no longer be able to fulfill the expected duties agreed upon in her contract. I
believe he wanted it to be clear that she qualified for unemployment and that
she was not being fired. But the way he said it felt heartless and cold. “You
will not be able to function in my office at the level required while battling
for your life. Because of this, I am laying you off without pay as of August
11, 2014. Your last paycheck will be mailed to you this Friday, 8/15/14.” This
line was the critical piece that outraged social media users who saw it. It’s
too impersonal for the situation. Because he was laying her off and not firing
her for misconduct, according to the Department of Labor she qualified for
unemployment, but he did not express any sympathetic emotion in this paragraph.
Later in the letter he expresses his sympathies, but this portion was cold and
lifeless.
Some changes I would make to this
letter would be as follows. In Dr. Visnich’s statement he said “my office” he
might have said, “our office,” instead seeing as she was a part of the staff.
Even though it’s his name on the business using words like “us” and “our” would
help her feel part of something. He should have coupled language to express his
sympathy and his hope for her in the future with the speech act of laying her
off. He might have said something to the effect of “Going through chemotherapy
is taxing on the body and the last thing on your mind in this struggle would be
helping out at our office. I have chosen to lay you off so that you might have
time to fight and win this battle against cancer. You have been a valued
employee and I am grateful to have employed you for the past 12 years. You will
qualify for unemployment because of this layoff and will be able to receive financial
help through unemployment while not having to worry about struggling through
the pain of cancer treatment in addition to the responsibilities you had at the
office. This will give you a chance to fight and win.” Something to this effect
would feel more personal and heartfelt.
Primarily I would have called
instead of sending this letter. I would have talked to this woman in person and
expressed to her my sympathies and my plan for the future. Because of this
poorly communicated message Dr. Visnich has suffered a blow to his reputation
that he might not recover from. Communicating properly in a professional
setting has lasting consequences.
