On Sept. 11, 2024, Tribune/DPS (Design and Production Studio) management terminated Chicago News Guild member Abbas Haleem for what management claimed was engaging in gross misconduct.
What actually happened was a story came across Abbas’ desk about the death of an Israeli hostage and he noticed the story was lacking important information, which would have led to accusations of bias. In an effort to provide journalistic balance, he included the Palestinian death toll, which the company has deemed “gross misconduct” warranting termination, despite the death toll being erroneously cut from the original article. We believe that the company’s move to termination has violated several key tenets of just cause — notably by bypassing any steps toward progressive discipline — and we are calling on management to immediately reinstate Abbas.
We are incredibly concerned by the company’s actions and its decision to fire Abbas, DPS’s only Palestinian and Arab employee. Moreover, it is suspicious for the company to have terminated Abbas over his role in this article considering his ethnic background. This termination is an insult to Abbas, a dedicated union member who has been at DPS since it was formed in 2018 and also has a baby just a few weeks old.
The DPS Guild is organizing a letter writing campaign to support Abbas. Please sign the letter asking Tribune Publishing to bring Abbas back with full back pay: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/bring-abbas-back-now?source=direct_link&.
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