Social Media Case

I was able to find numerous articles regarding this social media frenzy over the oral surgeon laying off his employee so she could fight her battle with cancer. I was surprised with the amount of negative imagery was shown towards the doctor. Few reports portrayed the doctor in a positive light.

In the Huffington Post article the headline of the piece is “A Woman Told Her Boss About A Devastating Cancer Diagnosis. He Responded By Firing Her.” To make this a headline sends a strong message to the readers. One that says the doctor has no feelings and is cold-hearted. What stuck out to me was the word “fired”. To say Dr. George Visnich fired his employee, Carol Jumper, was completely inappropriate of the article because when I read the letter, he hand wrote to her, he specifically states that he is laying her off. There is a clear distinction between the two. When a person is fired it is usually because of issues with their personal performance which makes them ineligible for unemployment. In this case what transpired was out of Carol’s control so to say she was fired is taking what happened out of context.

In reading the article I could not help to feel sorry for the doctor. I feel he handled the situation in a professional manner given the circumstances. He hand wrote her a letter when he could have easily had one of his assistants send a generic letter. He stated that with the rigorous treatment she will be under there will be side effects that would make her become a distraction which I feel is appropriate since she works for an oral surgeon. I think the use of the word “distraction” was a little harsh and could steer people in getting the wrong Idea at what he wanted to say. I think he did his best to personalize the letter as best as he could without taking away from him being professional about it. At the same time I can also see how his wording could come off sounding like he did not care and insincere. I think that with him trying to maintain a level of professionalism in his first paragraph it took away from the emotional aspect. His approach should have been more sympathetic to help with the coping of her no longer having a job.

As I looked at the comments I could see a lot of people had similar thoughts on the situation. That is he doctor is a horrible person, should not be able to keep his job, insincere, ruthless and the list goes on. I saw comments where people posted his physical address. I also saw many people make threats to him. I think there is a fine line in which a person can express themselves. I saw only a few comments that were in defense of the doctor. I do not understand how people can type the things they do. It makes me wonder if they know the things say are seen by millions of people and that their words can alter a person’s life.

Something that I think many people have failed to look at more closely is the fact that Carol has cancer in three different organs. With cancer in numerous places it means the chemotherapy treatments are going to have to much more intense in order for her to have a fighting chance. With the amount of radiation she will be exposed to her energy levels will most likely be nonexistent. The cancer was only discovered once she was in physical pain. This is a clear sign that she has had it for an extended amount of time. If she tries to work and devote her time to fighting her cancer she would be counterproductive and the efficiency at which she works would diminish greatly.  I think if people looked at that fact there would be more support for the doctor.

Having her friend post the letter on Facebook was a great way to get people to pay attention to the cancer. I think that part of this was a ploy to get others to support and donate, which they have done a great job. All of the reports I read were in favor of the Carol and there is nothing out there of reporters attempting to get the other side of the story, being what the doctor thought. The social media can be a cruel place. There are many things that are said and get twisted around so that the viewer takes the side of the writer. It is something I think needs to change because incidents such as this ruin lives.