F bombs are never appropriate in work

One of the first things I learned upon joining the workforce is that the place of your employment is not a democracy.

Please name one company that would allow its employees to respond to a vendor, customer, competitor or the public in general with the phrase “F--- you” in response to anything, yet somehow it appears “OK” at the university level.

University of Iowa Professor Ellen Lewin was on company (taxpayer) time, using company (taxpayer) equipment, essentially writing on company (taxpayer) letterhead.

Replace the word “Republicans” with any other (such as students, parent, Regents, taxpayers) and the weight of her F-statement would cost Lewin her job in any other setting.

However unfair, teachers at all levels of education are held to a higher standard of professionalism, morality, civility and ethics.

It was Lewin who has made a “spectacle” of herself and the UI, not Natalie Ginty and the Republican Party of Iowa. Would Professor Lewin receive a “pass” if this occurred at the high school level?

Our actions have consequences, and sometimes an apology just isn't enough. This is not an issue of free speech.

Losing our tempers and acting inappropriately and unprofessionally in the workplace would cost most of us our jobs.

Wendy Hartman

Cedar Rapids