The CEO of GrubHub, a publicly traded food delivery company that also includes Seamless and MenuPages, sent a companywide email on Wednesday inviting employees to resign if they agreed with the some of the demeaning and hateful rhetoric that marked Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Matt Maloney, CEO and co-founder of the Chicago-based company, which has a $3.16 billion market capitalization and more than 1,000 employees, is a Hillary Clinton supporter. In the email, Maloney noted his shock and concern for the safety of his employees during Trump's presidency.
Further I absolutely reject the nationalist, anti-immigrant and hateful politics of Donald Trump and will work to shield our community from this movement as best as I can. As we all try to understand what this vote means to us, I want to affirm to anyone on our team that is scared or feels personally exposed, that I and-[ everyone else here at Grubhub will fight for your dignity and your right to make a better life for yourself and your family here in the United States.
If you do not agree with this statement then please reply to this email with your resignation because you have no place here. We do not tolerate hateful attitudes on our team.
Earlier in the email, Maloney wrote that Trump would have been fired for some of his comments on the campaign trail if he had been a GrubHub employee. “While demeaning, insulting and ridiculing minorities, immigrants and the physically/mentally disabled worked for Mr. Trump, I want to be clear that this behavior — and these views, have no place at Grubhub. Had he worked here, many of his comments would have resulted in his immediate termination," Maloney wrote.
The subject of the email, which was obtained by Fox News, was: “So… that happened… what’s next?” Maloney told Fox News that "almost 20 percent” of his employees personally thanked him for the message. “I am not embarrassed by it," he said.
In response to questions from BuzzFeed News about the legality of the email and whether Maloney was concerned about alienating employees who may be among the 59.9 million voters who cast their ballot for the Republican nominee, a spokesperson for GrubHub pointed to a recent blog post from Maloney explaining his intentions.
"I want to clarify that I did not ask for anyone to resign if they voted for Trump," he said in the blog post, pasted in full below. "I would never make such a demand. To the contrary, the message of the email is that we do not tolerate discriminatory activity or hateful commentary in the workplace, and that we will stand up for our employees."
Inclusion and Tolerance in the Workplace
This year’s presidential election was undoubtedly divisive and left many of our employees feeling concerned. In response, I wrote a company-wide email that was intended to advocate for inclusion and tolerance — regardless of political affiliation — during this time of transition for our country.
Some of the statements in my email have been misconstrued. I want to clarify that I did not ask for anyone to resign if they voted for Trump. I would never make such a demand. To the contrary, the message of the email is that we do not tolerate discriminatory activity or hateful commentary in the workplace, and that we will stand up for our employees.
Grubhub welcomes and accepts employees with all political beliefs, no matter who they voted for in this or any election. We do not discriminate on the basis of someone's principles, or political or other beliefs.
I deeply respect the right of all citizens to vote for the candidate of their choice. In fact, I offered extra flexibility on Tuesday and encouraged all our employees to go vote. There is a place for all points of view at Grubhub. We value diverse perspectives and believe those perspectives help to create a better product and a better workplace culture.
Grubhub’s leadership team has worked for years to create a culture of support and inclusiveness. I firmly believe that we must bring together different perspectives to continue innovating. We are better, faster and stronger together, and so is America.
Posted by Matt Maloney, Grubhub CEO