For a moment forget about if you like or dislike Schilling, Stephen A. or neither. I want you to listen to the message not the messenger.
Schilling says ESPN are hypocrites for firing him and not Stephen A.
Smith had a retort to that on his radio show.
“Let me speak up on behalf of ESPN when I say this to Curt Schilling: …You are gone not because you have conservative views instead of liberal views. Your ass is gone because you did not want to listen,” Smith said on SXM. “ESPN tells me to shut-up, they’re my employer whether I like it or not. If I want to keep my job, I’ve got to shut the hell up.”
Stephen A. said a bunch of other stuff, but no one of that really matters. Only thing that matters is the last sentence.
If you want to keep your job, you got to shut the hell up. You have to give fake apologies. You have to keep a lot of your personal feelings to yourself.
Stephen A. gets some rope, but when he crosses the line in ESPN’s mind he has to fall back. Granted ESPN’s punishments at times don’t seem consistent, but when you are the boss, you really don’t have to be do you?
On a smaller level, people should understand risk-reward when taking on your employer and if speaking out is worth losing your job over, especially via social media.
Only you can answer that.