Appeal to Human Resources at Mystic Lake

SMSC Gaming Enterprise
Human Resources Department

I was informed on April 30th, 2008 that my employment at Mystic Lake could not continue due to comments, statements, and individuals on my blog. I was told I had breached the confidentiality agreement that I had signed.

I was told that I had listed names of guests. I searched for this. One un-named guest gave me a button.The button was the primary focus of that post.

It took me a while to find a guest I had actually named. This would be Michael Cavlan. He was a candidate for U.S. Senate. I didn’t vote for him ( don’t tell him ) but I do work with him on a number of political issues and causes, primarily in Minneapolis. I had just gone to the Minneapolis City Council that very day with other activists to try to stop the Midtown Burner. This is what excited me about seeing Michael that very day. He is an acquaintance of mine who would be quite upset if he were to find out that I were losing my job because I spoke about him.
The employees names I mentioned are those I have spent time with outside of work.
Nowhere did I say the work policies that I was discussing were from Mystic Lake. Nor did I seek to harm the business or clients of Mystic Lake.

I must concede that you explain things in a context that you might understand, but others do not. I mentioned Mystic once instead of the location that it was at! It’s like I assumed readers would understand its distance from where I live.

I did some research to find precedence regarding employees let go due to blogging. One individual from Microsoft took photos inside of their building and posted this online. A Google employee who was new to the job wrote about every aspect explicitly about his introduction to the company and what he did his first week there. A Starbucks employee used expletives very liberally on his blog to express what he thought personally of his supervisor. The above are security concerns, and I can understand the employer’s perspective. But I do not see my blog within the criteria parameters necessary for dismissal.

I did not receive a warning for the confidentiality policy. I looked at my policy handbook and could not find a copy of this policy, and request that I receive one.

This moment could be an opportunity. More positive things could be said about Mystic Lake online.

Please re-employ me because I have not done anything egregious to deserve such treatment from my long-term employers.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,


-Kevin Chavis