Woman who asked strangers to "vote" on her abortion loses job

Pete and Alisha ArnoldRemember Pete and Alisha Arnold, those not-quite-bright lights who posted pictures of their growing fetus online and asked strangers to vote on whether they should abort it? Well, things have taken a turn for the sadder. No, Alisha did not lose her baby, despite two previous miscarriages and a seeming lack of sense, but she did lose her job.

According to ABC news, the software firm TempWorks terminated Alisha's employment with a company-wide memo which stated that her conduct is a "grave risk to the reputation of the company."

"I'm just completely shocked by this. To get something like that out of the blue is pretty overwhelming," Alisha told reporters. The company refused to make a public statement about their decision.

So is this legal? According to University of Minnesota Labor Law Professor, William McGeveran, yes. "If an employer thinks that a speech you're engaging in reflects badly on the employer, then they can terminate your employment," he told ABC news. He also said that private companies can tell their employees who they can and cannot be friends with on Facebook and other social networking sites. Those who don't like their companies policies are free to find new jobs.

Which brings up a second, larger point: Is this fair? While I'm no fan of the Arnolds, I can't help but feel funny about a company terminating the job of a pregnant woman over something non-criminal she did in her off hours. To be clear, I would feel just as funny about it if she was a non-pregnant woman, or a man, but the fact that there is a baby on the way makes this a particularly bad time to lose both income and health insurance. It seems like a heavy-handed response to a stunt that was sad and gross and ill-advised, but ultimately harmless (neither the baby or anyone else was hurt by the Arnolds' actions, unless we're counting our sensibilities as people, which seems even more ill-advised than posting an online abortion poll). Then again, if we're talking about going with our gut here, I wouldn't want her working for me.

What do you think?