That was quick: Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) abruptly fired three staffers Thursday, an hour after his office learned the aides were goofing off on the clock and insulting the boss behind his back.
The staffers referred to the last month of 2011 as a “December to Remember” on Twitter and, according to screen shots from the accounts, tweeted insults about Rep. Larsen. The NW Daily Marker posted the screen shots, which include tweets about watching Nirvana videos and drinking on the job.
“My D2R team showed up this morning at 9:00am with shots of Jack. What a glorious and frightening way to kick off the month,” legislative assistant Seth Burroughs (@therocketship1) allegedly tweeted. One of the staffers allegedly referred to Larsen as a “pu$$y.” The NW Daily Marker reports that the series of tweets were posted between August and December.
Larsen communications director Bryan Thomas released the following statement after the staffers were let go:
“Congressman Larsen and his staff became aware of the issue concerning the three staff members at noon EST. We became aware of the issue through a tweet referencing an article about the incident. Congressman Larsen immediately decided to fire the three staff members involved in the incident. The staff members were dismissed at 1:10 p.m. EST.
“Neither Congressman Larsen nor his other staff were aware of the actions by these three staff members before today.
“Congressman Larsen is disappointed by their actions and takes this very seriously. He has made it clear that he will not tolerate this kind of behavior.”
Read more here.
