This is just not on in this day and age.
Adam Shanley was looking to order t-shirts for Saturday’s Dublin Pride Parade and decided to go through a T-shirt company whom he had bought clothes from before.
As he was scrolling back through his old emails in order to find the email address for the company entitled, The T-Shirt Company, he recognised a homophobic slur that was forwarded to him last year by accident, which he did not spot until this year.
The email reads as follows: “q**** not impressed, he’s leaving on half 12 train.”
The reason Adam Shanley was not impressed and rightly so was because his order at the time was running late and he had called the company to see if it would be there on time for his event.
When Shanley realised that the slur was in the old email thread, he immediately took to Twitter to express his disappointment in the company.
We've come a long way in a short time but this shows that homophobia is still part of being LGBT in Ireland.
— Adam Shanley (@Adlers1) June 23, 2017
Facing into the weekend – If you're wondering why we still need Pride – here's an example. It may only be a little word but it has impact.
— Adam Shanley (@Adlers1) June 23, 2017
I'll be taking my business elsewhere today and I'll walk the streets of Dublin proudly this weekend with my fellow LGBT+ friends & allies.
— Adam Shanley (@Adlers1) June 23, 2017
Shanley tagged The T-shirt Company in all of his tweets regarding the matter and the company also responded over social media where they apologised confirming they had suspended the employee at the centre of the matter and also stated that they were “treating this with the utmost seriousness.”
1/3 It has come to our attention today that a member of our staff used offensive and upsetting language in an email involving a customer …
— The T-Shirt Company (@TheTshirtCo) June 23, 2017
2/3 This member of staff has been suspended and a company-wide investigation is currently underway. We in NO way condone this and are …
— The T-Shirt Company (@TheTshirtCo) June 23, 2017
3/3 treating this with the utmost seriousness. We wish to apologise unreservedly for the offence and disgust caused by this. We will update.
— The T-Shirt Company (@TheTshirtCo) June 23, 2017
According to the Irish Independent, the employee who made the comments has since apologised to Adam Shanley and Shanley has accepted the apology but said he will not be taking down the tweets.
Shanley is a Director at the Gay Switchboard and they are open seven days a week on 01 872 1055.
Can't think straight? Need to talk? Our volunteers are here to chat at 01 872 1055 pic.twitter.com/hUma043UiQ
— Gay Switchboard (@GaySwitchboard) June 3, 2016
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