CEO slammed for posting smiling photo after sacking employee

In a bizarre incident, a CEO from US Colorado has been slammed for posting a smiling photo on social media after sacking an employee.

Matthew Baltzell, founder and CEO of Cap X Media, went viral for his post, which some users labeled as lacking empathy.

In his detailed post, Baltzell explained that the termination process began with a “short and direct” ten-minute meeting. He then provided a severance package of one week’s pay for each year of service. He also offered to act as a future job reference and aimed to remain “clear and honest” throughout the process.

Baltzell stated “After the meeting, I sent a message over Slack to inform everyone that the employee was no longer with us, without giving details. Gossip doesn’t help anyone. I provided the ex-employee’s contact info to the team and encouraged them to reach out if they wished. This avoids any secrecy. This approach shows my team that if they ever have to leave, they’ll be treated with respect, not discarded like trash. In the end, the ex-employee handled it professionally and with grace.”

His post included a smiling photo of himself, which many users found inappropriate. One comment read, “Imagine being the fired employee, logging onto here and seeing your boss make a post like this about you. If that wasn’t bad enough there’s an accompanying photo of him SMILING about it.”

One comment stated, “Would you mind to tell us why this is a happy moment worth smiling and sharing?”

Another added, “You just made someone’s exit incredibly problematic for yourself! I would NEVER work for an individual that was so INSECURE about his own leadership that he had to share the semantics in his first firing experience! Grow up! Leaders don’t behave this way, you lose credibility in your philosophical beliefs and sound like a gossiping holier-than-thou brat!”