It's worth reading the original blogpost: http://butyoureagirl.com/14015/forking-and-dongle-jokes-dont-belong-at-tech-conferences/ http://butyoureagirl.com/140

It's worth reading the original blogpost: http://butyoureagirl.com/14015/forking-and-dongle-jokes-dont-belong-at-tech-conferences/ http://butyoureagirl.com/14015/forking-and-dongle-jokes-dont... I hope this developer will be able to find another job. But consider that conference rooms are different. You can't make a joke about fire or a bomb there without potentially threatening public safety. By a similar logic, if you say things which negatively affect my state of being in the conference, then you are potentially at fault. So is it possible to make a private joke in a conference room while someone is giving a presentation? I would argue that it is possible in some situations, but not in all situations. So before everyone rushes to judgement, consider whether this particular venue and setup does make the context for this joke different. I think the employer overreacted. But while I think everyone has a right to tell whatever joke they want in private, in conference rooms, there are different rules for conversation being private.