RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: A Big Move to Ban Realtor 'Hate Speech.' Anywhere. 24/7. Sat Jan 09, 2021 3:49 pm | |
| In what some consider one of the most far-reaching social policy moves in the corporate world, the National Association of Realtors, called the nation's largest trade organization, has revised its professional ethics code to ban “hate speech and harassing speech” by its 1.4 million members. Under the new policy, real estate agents who insult, threaten or harass people based on race, sex, or other legally protected characteristics can be investigated, fined or expelled. Its online training sessions offer a glimpse at how difficult the rules can be to enforce.
The sweeping prohibition applies to association members 24/7, covering all communication, private and professional, written and spoken, online and off. Punishment could top out at a maximum fine of $15,000 and expulsion from the organization.
Mary Wagner, a Buffalo real estate agent who is white and lesbian, says the move, announced in November, fits her vision for creating a fairer society. She predicts thousands of complaints this year, given the realtor association's enormous size and the overheated climate of social media.
“I was thrilled to hear it,” Wagner said in a phone interview. “I think it’s long overdue.”
NAR’s decision, allowing any member of the public to file a complaint, has alarmed other real estate agents, and also some legal and ethics experts, who say the hate speech ban’s vagueness is an invitation to censor controversial political opinions, especially on race and gender. While that’s not the association’s stated intention, the skeptics say their fears are justified by the hyperactive “cancel culture” online that has jettisoned hapless workers for posting “all lives matter” and objecting to gay marriage.
“The dam has broken and other organizations will look at this,” predicted Robert Föehl, a professor of business ethics and business law at Ohio University.
.https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/08/a_big_move_to_ban_realtor_hate_speech_anywhere_247_532980.html#
|
|