Current Events > Some folks seem to be defending the guy who jerked off on a work zoom

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https://defector.com/who-can-guess-what-jeffrey-toobin-did-wrong-not-so-fast-malcolm-gladwell/

Jeffrey Toobin, the lawyer and journalist, lost his job at the New Yorker earlier this year after an incident in which he pulled his dick out and jacked off while participating via webcam in a Zoom meeting with his coworkers. I was very careful with the wording of that sentence, so as not to muddy the question of what, exactly, Jeffrey Toobin did that was wrong.

Perhaps you are now thinking, It does not seem to me that there would be much question about what a guy did wrong who exposed his dick and masturbated while participating via webcam in a Zoom meeting with his coworkers. Perhaps you are thinking, It is self-evidently fireable in virtually any non-sex-industry working context for a person to expose their sex parts and masturbate while participating via webcam in a Zoom meeting with their coworkers. I quite agree! But apparently there has been some confusion about this, most recently in a New York Times article from earlier today quoting several people who appear quite mixed up on the issue. I am here to clear things up!

Here is mega-ultra-brain-genius Malcolm Gladwell, being quite perplexed about it:

Malcolm Gladwell, one of the magazines best known contributors, said in an interview: I read the Cond Nast news release, and I was puzzled because I couldnt find any intellectual justification for what they were doing. They just assumed he had done something terrible, but never told us what the terrible thing was. And my only feeling the only way I could explain it was that Cond Nast had taken an unexpected turn toward traditional Catholic teaching. (Mr. Gladwell then took out his Bible and read to a reporter an allegory from Genesis 38 in which God strikes down a man for succumbing to the sin of self-gratification.)

Two points here. Firstly: Jeffrey Toobin was not fired for the sin of masturbating. Probably every one of his coworkers at the New Yorker, if asked Do you think Jeffrey Toobin commits the sin of masturbation? prior to his having exposed his dick and masturbated on camera during a work meeting, would have shrugged and said, I dunno, probably, and/or disputed the characterization of masturbation as a sin. He was fired for the insanely and inarguably fucked-up workplace violation of exposing his dick and masturbating while participating in a work meeting. Secondly and perhaps less importantly: That is not what happens in Genesis 38.

Here is Masha Gessen, a New Yorker journalist who witnessed the incident:

Even Mx. Gessen, who initially found the incident traumatic, said they now feel sympathy for Mr. Toobin. I think its tragic that a guy would get fired for really just doing something really stupid, they said. It is the Zoom equivalent of taking an inappropriately long lunch break, having sex during it and getting stumbled upon.

Two points here! Firstly: It is not the Zoom equivalent of that. It is the Zoom equivalent of opening your pants and masturbating under the table during an in-person work meeting, and failing to notice that the table is made of transparent glass and everyone can see what you are doing. The transgression is not getting stumbled upon. The transgression is honking off while participating in a work meeting. That is against the rules of work even if nobody stumbles upon it. Secondly: If you took an inappropriately long lunch break from a normal job, had sex during it in a place where your coworkers might plausibly encounter you, and one of your coworkers walked in on it, you probably would, in fact, lose your job.

Here is Jonathan Alter, another journalist and a longtime friend of Toobins:

You are a fine person and a terrific journalist and did nothing here to hurt anyone outside of yourself and your family, Jonathan Alter, a friend of Mr. Toobins for 40 years, tweeted after Mr. Toobin announced his exit from The New Yorker.

Two points here! Firstly: When a man exposes his dick and masturbates while participating via webcam in a meeting with his coworkers, he is, in fact, doing something to hurt someone outside of himself and his family. He is doing something to hurt his coworkers, who rightly expect that they should be able to have work meetings not only without having to see him jacking off but also without having to wonder at all whether he has pulled his dick out and begun masturbating during the meeting. Secondly: I think the label of a fine person is at least up for debate in reference to a guy who exposes his dick and masturbates while meeting with his unwitting coworkers.

Listen, I defend workers from firings at pretty much every available opportunity, but don't crank off on a work zoom.
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Toobin also has a long history of sexual misconduct that makes masturbating in a zoom meeting seem like small potatoes. Dunno why he has been given a pass for 10+ years.
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Jeffrey Toobin still works for CNN. CNN did not fire him

xue1 posted...

Jeffrey Toobin still works for CNN. CNN did not fire him

I'm guessing that's because it wasn't their work zoom he jerked off on
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What a weird thing to defend. The guy fucked up and had his consequences, move on

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Work culture in society needs to progress further, if you cant even cant even accept a person for pleasuring themselves without harming anyone, what can you really accept about a person? No wonder we have all these work discrimination cases.

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You guys act like you never accidentally started whacking it while still on Skype with your mom.

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