Shoosmiths partner causes offence with Guardian joke
In an interview with the Lawyer recently, Shoosmiths’ Head of social housing Andy Ballard joked whilst discussing the expansion of his team: “Anyone who’s under 50 and reads The Guardian gets brought on.” Two elements of this were deemed offensive by commenters – the ageist bit and the stereotyping of social housing sector employees as Guardian readers bit. So upset was one reader who claimed to be an instructing housing association employee in the West Midlands, that he apparently contacted the Lawyer …
In an interview with the Lawyer recently, Shoosmiths’ Head of social housing Andy Ballard joked whilst discussing the expansion of his team:
“Anyone who’s under 50 and reads The Guardian gets brought on.”
Two elements of this were deemed offensive by commenters – the ageist bit and the stereotyping of social housing sector employees as Guardian readers bit.
So upset was one reader who claimed to be an instructing housing association employee in the West Midlands, that he apparently contacted the Lawyer to say he was considering withdrawing work from Shoosmiths. Furthermore, he believed that this was some sort of Gerald Ratner moment. Quite how he made the connection between Ratner who called the cheap tacky jewellery he sold ‘crap’ and stereotypes about social housing we don’t know.
October 26, 2009
Blunder. Not PC but hardly that offensive.
October 26, 2009
A lawyer really ought to know better than to rattle any cages when they talk to the press especially with militant PC scouts everywhere. As for his comments I though it was a funny quip and probably had a grain of truth regarding the Guardian comment.
October 27, 2009
Truth hurts
October 27, 2009
No sense of humour on his or PC persons part And have you not got anything better to comment on. What a waste of time
October 31, 2009
Do public sector workers realise the rest of us are getting sick of them?