Firing of Wilfrid Laurier Cafe Operator over ‘Slave’ Joke Is an Absurd Overreaction

As someone who writes about issues pertaining to race or gender, I'm used to being called a social justice warrior. The term, meant as a dismissive jab of anything resembling political correctness, is used so frequently that it's almost meaningless at this point.

But when I read about Sandor Dosman, who was fired from his job operating a cafe on the Wilfrid Laurier University campus because of a poorly thought out joke, I found myself aligning with critics who slammed the incident as an egregious example of campus censorship gone too far.

Dosman has run Veritas Café for the last five years, working for the Waterloo school's Graduate Students' Association. Last Monday, he said he was called into a meeting with his employers and was fired over a job ad he posted on Facebook in which he used the word "slave" in jest.

The ad, posted to a group called Food in the Waterloo Region in November, was chock full of dad jokes.

It opens with: "I need a new slave (full time staff member) to boss (mentor) around Veritas Café!" He describes coffee as "wake-up juice" and beer as a "confidence booster" and even advises prospective applicants that "man buns and tattoos are ok."

He said food safety certification was an asset because "we try not to kill our customers" and noted at the end that, unless you're really good, "pay is crap."

Dosman says the students' association wouldn't get into the specifics of why he was being terminated, other than to say they took offence with the ad. He told the CBC they mentioned the bit about crappy pay.

Meanwhile, Samantha Deeming, CEO of the students' association, told student publication The Cord the group had grounds to fire Dosman under a clause that referred to "conduct on the part of the Service Provider that is materially detrimental to the Business or would injure the reputation of the (Wilfrid Laurier University Graduate Students' Association) as determined by the sole discretion of the WLUGSA." The group will not be making any further comment about the termination, she said, but is hoping to have the cafe up and running by January. The university has given a statement supporting the decision to fire Dosman "given the importance that Laurier places on being an inclusive, welcoming and respectful community."

So now Dosman is out of a job right before the holidays as are the ten student staffers who worked at the cafe alongside him.

Who is really benefitting from this outcome?

Yes, using the word "slave" is in poor taste because of its heavy racial connotation. But context is important here and by simply reading the rest of the job posting, it's obvious that Dosman isn't going on a racist rant—he's trying to be humorous to appeal to young people. He got carried away, for sure, but is that the kind of mistake a sincere apology can't fix?

To that end, Dosman told the CBC he was sorry if people were offended by the ad because "that was not the intent at all. And of course, you know, with this outcome of me losing my livelihood, that's not something I wanted."

In most reasonable workplaces, that—along with a stern talk about cultural sensitivity—would be enough. The end goal should be educational not punitive. You would think that a university of all places would realize that.

Not surprisingly, members of the campus community are outraged over Dosman's dismissal. A Change.org petition to have him reinstated has garnered more 2,271 signatures and Laurier associate professor Byron Williston called out the students' association in an open letter.

"I suppose it's a sign of the times, especially on university campuses whose student bodies—undergraduate and graduate—seem to have been taken over by the terminally thin-skinned and self-righteous," he said. "Perhaps you should direct your moral outrage at some of the many real problems in the world rather than behaving like petty bullies."

By using the harshest disciplinary tool at their disposal in response to a relatively mild offence, the people who fired Dosman make it hard to argue with that. And they make it easier to dismiss those "social justice warriors" trying to shed light on legitimate issues.

Follow Manisha Krishnan on Twitter.