Yoga Teacher Fired For Banning Cell Phones at Facebook

I'm with the facebook/yoga contract company on this one. She got fired because she didn't realize that her class wasn't her's from the start. Facebook is allowing her to operate as business permits. The contracting company didn't want to lose a lucrative contract so instead of a reprimand, it was easier just to fire her as she is easily replaced.

This is pretty standard practice. A colleague of mine is a technical trainer and he goes on and on about the death of common courtesy and how people in his class sometime play solitaire, text, or talk in the back of the class. He can't say anything about it though since his contract prohibits him from speaking or interacting with any employee in a "negative" manner. I'm sure the yoga teacher's contract had a similar clause if she bothered to read it.

Oh well, as long as it's standard practice...
"You don't mind working Saturday do you?"
"You need to be a team player."
"You should invest you time not, spend it."
"You've got to work smarter not, harder."
"What's good for the company is good for the country/work force/industry."

Is it just me or does anyone else have the urge to backhand the next corporate drone I see?
 
Fair enough I guess. Letting good things go to waste, and then getting rid of them. Just another Facebook tactic.
 
Oh well, as long as it's standard practice...
"You don't mind working Saturday do you?"
"You need to be a team player."
"You should invest you time not, spend it."
"You've got to work smarter not, harder."
"What's good for the company is good for the country/work force/industry."

Is it just me or does anyone else have the urge to backhand the next corporate drone I see?

Don't like the terms: Don't sign the contract. Nobody was forcing her to work at FB. This is what happens when people think they are more important than the system/corporation/government. But hey don't let a little thing like the probable reality of the situation get in the way of high-minded idealism.

Is it just me or does anyone else have the urge to backhand the next hippie drone I see?
/youseewhatididthere.jpg ;)
 
Don't like the terms: Don't sign the contract. Nobody was forcing her to work at FB. This is what happens when people think they are more important than the system/corporation/government. But hey don't let a little thing like the probable reality of the situation get in the way of high-minded idealism.

Is it just me or does anyone else have the urge to backhand the next hippie drone I see?
/youseewhatididthere.jpg ;)

Yeah, because "don't tell people to not talk on their phones" was clearly in the contract agreement... :rolleyes:

Have fun being raped in every job you ever take in the future once companies figure out they can take advantage of you like that.
 
^It might actually be, maybe in the form of "Do not impede on worker's ability to work" or something.

And.... Most jobs are raping you, one way or another, with their contracts.
 
Yeah, because "don't tell people to not talk on their phones" was clearly in the contract agreement... :rolleyes:

Have fun being raped in every job you ever take in the future once companies figure out they can take advantage of you like that.

No, and while it didn't say not to be a self important ass it appears that doing this is what got the instructor fired, at least from the limited information she herself provided.

And if you think you can do what you damn well please without considering the desires of those paying you have fun being unemployed and living in your mom's basement.
 
It's real simple. If you're using a cell phone during a Yoga class, you're not doing Yoga. If you're not doing Yoga, why are you in a Yoga class? You're a waste of space and you're interrupting your teacher AND it's highly disturbing to fellow students! Leave the class. You clearly don't wanna be there.

On the other hand, there will ALWAYS be butt munchers out there who want to cause strife. And that sounds just like what's happening here. Person doesn't like Yoga teach and sets out to try to fire her.

Oh, I say NO to facebook all the time. I can't wait for the revolution that sees them taken out back and shot.
 
Oh, I say NO to facebook all the time. I can't wait for the revolution that sees them taken out back and shot.

It's not really Facebook itself that's the problem. The sad fact is that, aside from people with a business interest who are looking to earn money from Facebook's user community, the average person who uses the service is something scraped off the bottom of the human barrel. Facebook used to be academic and attracted intelligent, but immature college age children. Now it's gotten popular enough to draw in the flotsam and refuse of broader society to create the perfect cesspool in which walking, talking, human waste tends to collect and act out drama that was previously confined to their homes and less visible personal lives. In short, it's representative of human civilization's on-going, fundamental problem with the mental lessers of its societies rather than being the cause of all that is wrong.
 
No, and while it didn't say not to be a self important ass it appears that doing this is what got the instructor fired, at least from the limited information she herself provided.

And if you think you can do what you damn well please without considering the desires of those paying you have fun being unemployed and living in your mom's basement.

Which is more self important; asking people to not use their phone during Yoga, or ignoring the request and disrupting the entire class? (Then going out of your way to get someone fired.)

I guess respect is something you learn as a kid, or not, as the case may be.
 
i hate facebook but i wouldnt be surprised if theres more to this story. everybody loves to play innocent victim when they are fired.
 
Yoga lady needs to learn some customer service skills. If a waiter continually left a wake of unhappy customers, for whatever reason, he's going to be replaced. Well guess what, she's in the exact same business.

Personally I'm guessing they're trying to replace her with someone younger and hotter. If you're going to spend stockholder money on something as trivial as yoga lessons or belly dancers you expect to get a little eye candy to boost morale.
 
i think the title should be a little more parsimonious; Yoga instructor fired for breaching customer service guidelines.

if an accounting company hires you and in the contract is says you have to wear a Hawaiian shirt everyday and you're not prepared to, dont work for that company.
 
Yoga lady needs to learn some customer service skills. If a waiter continually left a wake of unhappy customers, for whatever reason, he's going to be replaced. Well guess what, she's in the exact same business.

Customer service skills? You mean kowtowing to the whims of her students? How would there be any structure if her students were allowed to ignore anything she?

"Ok, next we're going to do the pigeon pose"
"But I wanna do the lotus pose!"
"Ok, we'll do the lotus pose then"
 
Everybody in this thread on facebook's side has never set foot in a dojo or other martial arts establishment. The word of the master in that place is the word of god.
 
Everybody in this thread on facebook's side has never set foot in a dojo or other martial arts establishment. The word of the master in that place is the word of god.

So you agree then that facebook was in the right since it was the master of that class.
 
Same type of folks who downrate their professors when they are asked to stop disrupting class.
 
So if I pay for martial arts classes I'm the master of the class because I paid for it?


Nice logic there.

If you don't like the instructor you can walk out and request a refund.


Remember - your boss is whoever is paying you.
 
So if I pay for martial arts classes I'm the master of the class because I paid for it?


Nice logic there.

well how about this logic. if you call a martial arts instructor to your home and you dont like his rules, you can terminate his services.

get it?
 
Next up in the news.....Yoga instructors refuse to work for facebook. :p
 
Don't like the terms: Don't sign the contract. Nobody was forcing her to work at FB. This is what happens when people think they are more important than the system/corporation/government. But hey don't let a little thing like the probable reality of the situation get in the way of high-minded idealism.

Is it just me or does anyone else have the urge to backhand the next hippie drone I see?
/youseewhatididthere.jpg ;)

You DON'T think you're more important than the "system/corporation/government? :eek:
I'm sorry...
 
well how about this logic. if you call a martial arts instructor to your home and you dont like his rules, you can terminate his services.

get it?

Except the "person" who didn't like her rules wasn't the one paying for it.



But alas, it's sad to see how many people are OK with this.
 
You DON'T think you're more important than the "system/corporation/government? :eek:
I'm sorry...

Hey, no need to feel sorry. I know that iI'm not more important than the system because I like to get paid. I'm sorry that some people can't distinguish between the reality of the situation and the way they would like it to be. It would be great if the yoga instructor had the freedom and autonomy to run the class the way she saw fit and to kick out disruptive people but the fact is she didn't. It's not like she ran her own private studio or was teaching a class down at the community college: She was a corporate contractor/employee just like the rest of her clients and she let her ego get in the way of her paycheck.

I used to see it all the time at my previous workplace. Take this example: Company A hires you to do a job and they want it done a certain way using process B. Now, you being the smart person you are figure out that you can do the job they hired you to do easier and quicker using process C. You use process C, everything works great but come monday morning you get fired. Who is at fault? Company A or you?
 
Hey, no need to feel sorry. I know that iI'm not more important than the system because I like to get paid. I'm sorry that some people can't distinguish between the reality of the situation and the way they would like it to be. It would be great if the yoga instructor had the freedom and autonomy to run the class the way she saw fit and to kick out disruptive people but the fact is she didn't. It's not like she ran her own private studio or was teaching a class down at the community college: She was a corporate contractor/employee just like the rest of her clients and she let her ego get in the way of her paycheck.

I used to see it all the time at my previous workplace. Take this example: Company A hires you to do a job and they want it done a certain way using process B. Now, you being the smart person you are figure out that you can do the job they hired you to do easier and quicker using process C. You use process C, everything works great but come monday morning you get fired. Who is at fault? Company A or you?

There's always another company willing to treat you like shit. I just prefer working for one's that haven't screwed me yet and, I never stay after they have. Maybe if a few more did that, there wouldn't be so many companies who think all they owe you is a paycheck and, hopefully, fewer workers who think the same.
 
There are 3 distinct fails in this story.

1.) The woman receiving yoga lessons didn't obey the instructor's rules.

2.) The woman receiving yoga lessons did NOT do the adult thing and leave the room to talk on the phone, then talk to the instructor after the lesson and explain that it was an emergency OR grow the fuck up.

3.) The yoga company fired the woman for practically nothing. The yoga company repeated the same mistake and didn't discuss the issue directly with the instructor.

If you rudely disobey the rules your instructor gives, then you can complain and get her fired for it.

Communication breakdown FTW.
 
Which is more self important; asking people to not use their phone during Yoga, or ignoring the request and disrupting the entire class? (Then going out of your way to get someone fired.)

I guess respect is something you learn as a kid, or not, as the case may be.

If this was some random class you would be right, but this is a class offered by a company on their site. Normally places that offer things like this do so during the work day and attendance is "as work allows." Now if this was the case then certain employees who might be attending the class would likely be expected to be available



There are 3 distinct fails in this story.

1.) The woman receiving yoga lessons didn't obey the instructor's rules.

2.) The woman receiving yoga lessons did NOT do the adult thing and leave the room to talk on the phone, then talk to the instructor after the lesson and explain that it was an emergency OR grow the fuck up.

3.) The yoga company fired the woman for practically nothing. The yoga company repeated the same mistake and didn't discuss the issue directly with the instructor.

If you rudely disobey the rules your instructor gives, then you can complain and get her fired for it.

Communication breakdown FTW.

2) Actually the woman did leave the room to take the call, or answer the message, the stories I've seen haven't said which.

3) Your assuming this based on nothing but the word of the terminated employee, who is far from a unbiased source. It's been my experience that people are rarely terminated for one minor incident, and rarely give the full reason they were fired.

We are provided a biased an incomplete story, and since the instructor is attempting to try the case in the court of public opinion it's up to her to fill in the blanks but as she left out so many details that I have to assume she did so because they would hurt, rather then help, her case.
 
If this was some random class you would be right, but this is a class offered by a company on their site. Normally places that offer things like this do so during the work day and attendance is "as work allows." Now if this was the case then certain employees who might be attending the class would likely be expected to be available

Like it says in the article, the offending instructee was seen tapping away at her phone before she was asked not to earlier, then took a call and went out of the class later.

If the rules were that Facebook said it was fine to take calls in the yoga class and I was asked not to, I'd say, " my company says it's OK. Ask the boss if you need to".

Why create a problem out of nothing? It serves no purpose other than posturing. There is no reason for childish behaviour.
 
Like it says in the article, the offending instructee was seen tapping away at her phone before she was asked not to earlier, then took a call and went out of the class later.

If the rules were that Facebook said it was fine to take calls in the yoga class and I was asked not to, I'd say, " my company says it's OK. Ask the boss if you need to".

Why create a problem out of nothing? It serves no purpose other than posturing. There is no reason for childish behaviour.

Actually leaving the room to handle the call was the mature thing to do, while scowling at your customers and downplaying the importance of the people paying you aren't.

Also, as I've stated before I find it hard to believe that this was the only reason she was fired, but I find it very easy to believe that it might simply have been the last straw but of course the instructor would never admit there were other issues.

Also it's worth pointing out that one of the stories I read about this, not sure if it was the one linked here or another said that this woman had similar "customer service" incidents at Cisco.

Remember their prior actions catch up to them in a negative way the vast majority of people will either try to excuse their action or try to isolate the final incident from the rest of their actions so as to make their termination seem unreasonable.
 
Actually leaving the room to handle the call was the mature thing to do, while scowling at your customers and downplaying the importance of the people paying you aren't.

Also, as I've stated before I find it hard to believe that this was the only reason she was fired, but I find it very easy to believe that it might simply have been the last straw but of course the instructor would never admit there were other issues.

Also it's worth pointing out that one of the stories I read about this, not sure if it was the one linked here or another said that this woman had similar "customer service" incidents at Cisco.

Remember their prior actions catch up to them in a negative way the vast majority of people will either try to excuse their action or try to isolate the final incident from the rest of their actions so as to make their termination seem unreasonable.

I think you tend to ignore the meat of the debate and base your posts on speculation.

The Cisco "incident" was when she asked students not to take photographs during class. This is very common for Yoga.

If asking people to focus on Yoga in a Yoga class downplays their importance, then maybe they needed a hug instead. Leaving the class to take the call isn't the mature thing to do, it is the bare minimum fo what you should do. Complaining that you got a "look" for doing what the instructor asked you not to do is certainly not mature.

Sure, we can speculate that maybe the Yoga instructor may have ties to neo nazi groups, or strangled a student with a telephone cord, but we really don't know that.
 
There's always another company willing to treat you like shit. I just prefer working for one's that haven't screwed me yet and, I never stay after they have. Maybe if a few more did that, there wouldn't be so many companies who think all they owe you is a paycheck and, hopefully, fewer workers who think the same.

All companies treat you like shit. The business of business is to make money: All they do owe an employee is a paycheck. All an employee owes a business is what they are paid to do. Nothing more, nothing less.

As a personal aside: this is why I don't have any loyalty to any employer. Pay me to do a job and that is it. If I had a dime for every time I have told someone, "sorry, can't do that, it is out of the scope of my job description but let me find someone who can" I would be a much richer person today. It is also one of the reasons I loved working as an independent contractor. I always wrote it into my contract that unless I was charged with something criminally negligent or liable, the company has to pay me the full amount of my contract regardless even if they were dissatisfied or terminated my services early. Maybe if the yoga instructor had read and UNDERSTOOD her contract and thus her role in the organization this situation would have never come up.
 
All companies treat you like shit. The business of business is to make money: All they do owe an employee is a paycheck. All an employee owes a business is what they are paid to do. Nothing more, nothing less.

That's just sad and, that perspective is exactly why there are so many bad companies out there and why America is experiencing the current financial crisis. I will never understand how so many people can spend so much of their lives doing work they dislike for companies they hate/distrust. Just because a company is large and profitable, does NOT mean it can't be better or, that management has a better grasp of the business than the employees who actually do the work. It all comes down to perspective I guess. I find too many 'youts' have they outlook of doing whatever it takes to earn the big bucks so they can retire early and start "living."

Companies owe their employees more than just a paycheck because it is in their own long term best interests to do so. The disturbing fact now is that for many companies outsourcing/off shoring/down sizing or other euphemism of the week, allows them to delay the costs of treating their employees like paper clips until we've all become third class citizens. But hey, I got mine and screw you. The point is, I care about the quality of daily life, I care about the customers my company serves, I care about the people I work with and, I care about the community/nation/world I live and work in.

Dying with the most money/toys/women is NOT the definition of success. Gaming the system and getting out before the system dies is Not the definition of business acumen. Tap dancing at the line of legality is Not the definition of good business practice.
 
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