>The journalist made no attempt to investigate or disprove TJ's side of the story, not even to ask the employee about it.
They did! The TJ response is right there, after the termination letter, and the way I read it, they confirmed the story beyond a reasonable doubt by producing a denial that only sounds like a defense without context.
It says, "store leadership terminated this Crew Member's employment because of the disrespect he showed towards our customers. We have never, and would never, terminate a Crew Member's employment for raising safety concerns".
Their excuse is that he was not respectful enough to the customers...by demanding management exclude people (after 3 strikes) who refuse to wear masks and are abusive. And this is not a health concern, nor did they have any problem with the other health concerns. Really??
This is how every professional defends the indefensible these days. They craft a "non-denial denial" that communicates a falsehood to people who don't have the context, and doesn't technically lie or deny anything to people who do have the context. It is truly having your cake and eating it too.
Would you also insist that TJ allow employees to wear "Meat/Abortion is Murder" buttons?
> employee fired for sending a letter to the CEO about working onditions.
Allegedly. The journalist made no attempt to investigate or disprove TJ's side of the story, not even to ask the employee about it.