Goodyear Didn't Discriminate Politically
The Claim
Goodyear was revealed to have a clear political bias through its discriminatory employee clothing policy.
Emerging story
In August 2020, world-famous tire company Goodyear came under fire due to an image leaked from an anonymous employee (seen below) which showed the company’s stance on politically affiliated clothing and accessories.
According to the image, as well the anonymous source, Goodyear is discriminatory between which political apparel can be worn and which is banned. Both the Black Lives Matter and Make America Great Again (MAGA) movements are undeniably political, so it appeared to many that Goodyear was choosing sides instead of banning all political materials.
As a result, President Trump has called for a boycott of all Goodyear products. The sentiment has been echoed by many users on social media who found the discrimination insulting.
However, some users took a different stance, pointing out what they view as Trump's hypocrisy.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that just a few hours after Trump’s tweet and the subsequent social media frenzy, Goodyear’s stock dropped by 3.1% As the online controversy started to spiral out of control, Melissa Monaco (a Goodyear representative) released the following statement
Additionally, Goodyear tweeted out a separate explanation of what had happened. In this tweet Goodyear clearly stated that “the visual in question was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate, nor was it part of a diversity training class,” and that they support equality as well as law enforcement.
The slideshow which caused this controversy may have been created by an employee and used locally, without corporate approval. It is equally possible that the entire incident was faked, as a blurry photo of a basic PowerPoint slide from an anonymous employee is not the most credible source.
