Click the photo to see the uncensored version.
Until early this week, Shawn Simoes, pictured above, had a nice job. Note the use of the past tense. If you live in the Toronto area and have been watching or reading the local news, you likely already know why he no longer has said job.
The video
If you don’t know why, watch this video below, taken at Sunday’s soccer match, immediately after a group of idiots rushed the camera where CityTV news reporter Shauna Hunt was working and yelled “Fuck her right in the pussy!”, having been inspired by a videobombing prank that inspired copycats despite being a hoax. Hunt decided to challenge them and ask why they’d do such a thing:
The instigators
Sadly, there were different groups of guys waiting to yell the magic “FHRITP” phrase (as it’s called in polite circles). One guy managed to pull it off…
…and others were quick to back him up with a “Well played, sir!”. Hunt then went to confront a gaggle of guys in the background who’d been waiting for the opportunity to strike:
Look at the background and you’ll see what sets Toronto apart from most places: it’s so multicultural that we even have douchebags of colour!
Mr. Vocabulary
Next came this douchenozzle, who attempt to justify the unjustifiable with a classic debating tactic: attempting to sound smarter by using highfalutin’ words that he doesn’t even understand:
I’ll leave it to Mr. Inigo Montoya of The Princess Bride to respond:
It was later found that Mr. Vocabulary works at the machine vision tech company Cognex, who released a statement as soon as that fact became known:
“While the individual was attending the event on his own time and was not at a Cognex activity, the views expressed are totally inconsistent with Cognex’s values, and we find such comments reprehensible. We cannot comment on employee matters publicly, but we take this issue seriously and will be addressing it.”
He’s probably having a bad time at work this week, but his troubles are minor next to the next guy’s…
The guy who just couldn’t keep his mouth shut
And finally, we come to the accidental douchelord, Shawn Simoes. He wasn’t even involved with the FHRITP and could’ve walked right by without saying a word and drastically chaging his life. However, using judgement so poor that it’s downright Floridian, he stepped into the fray to defend the actions of his fellow bros:
Here’s a transcript of their exchange:
Shawn Simoes: Fucking hilarious, I don’t care what you say, I am laughing!
“Quite substantial” guy: It has nothing to do with you, it has everything to do with everyone else.
Reporter Shauna Hunt: When you talk into my microphone and say that into my camera to viewers at the station I work at it is disrespectful and…
Shawn Simoes: I don’t care it’s fucking hilarious!
Shauna Hunt: Okay why is it so funny though? [directed at Shawn Simoes] Why is this funny?
Shawn Simoes: It is fucking hilarious! We’re not the only people, it happened in England.
Shauna Hunt: Do you know that it’s old? It’s really not funny.
Shawn Simoes: It’s been like a year!
Shauna Hunt: It’s been longer than that.
Shawn Simoes: You’re lucky there’s not a fucking vibrator in here, like in England, because it happened all the time. It’s fucking amazing and I respect it, all the time!
Shauna Hunt: If your mom saw you-
Shawn Simoes: Oh my mom would die laughing eventually!
The employer who had to avoid more bad PR
Even though Simoes didn’t have the good sense not to be a boor with a TV news camera pointed right at him, he might’ve been just another dick on the internet if it weren’t for his employer’s current situation.
Simoes worked at the public electric utility company Hydro One (“hydro” being local shorthand for “hydroelectric power”). If you live outside Ontario, you might not be aware of these three factors that are crucial to this story:
- People hate Hydro One. The situation is, if you’ll allow me to use the word, substantially exacerbated by a damning report from the province’s ombudsman, for bad billing and business practices. They’ve received over 10,000 complaints to the ombudsman’s office, which is believed to be a record, for gouging their customers with overly large “estimated” bills, unexpectedly big withdrawals from customers’ bank accounts, and their mafia-like threatening to cut off people’s power for being late with paying their bills during one of the worst winters in recent memory.
- Hydro One employees are public sector employees, and well-paid public sector employees have public salaries. Ontario has a law that requires that all public sector employees who make more than $100,000 a year have their salaries published in what’s commonly known as the “Sunshine List”.
- Simoes made enough money to appear on the Sunshine List. As an assistant network management engineer (guys like Simoes are a big reason why women avoid careers in technology), he made CAD$106,510.60 (USD$88,620 at today’s rates) in salary and CAD$709.10 (USD$590) in taxable benefits last year.
Simoes’ actions and public salary would paint them as a bunch of well-paid douchebags, which is probably why they quickly fired him…
Hydro One statement regarding an employee at the TFC game. pic.twitter.com/qdJAZFgvMa
— Hydro One (@HydroOne) May 12, 2015
…and shortly thereafter, in a speedy and efficient manner that is oh-so-very-uncharacteristic of Hydro One, they excised his name from the Sunshine List. The Huffington Post managed to capture it before the deletion:
It’s likely that their move was based more on Machiavelli than morals.
Cognex, while it’s got a controversy of its own, isn’t facing a PR crisis like Hydro One’s, had a great quarter, and its prospects look bright. Still, it’s likely that they’ll take some disciplinary measures for Mr. Vocabulary. They may even give him a dictionary.
One last look
Well, it looks as though Shawn Simoes will have plenty of time to discuss the supposed hilarity of this incident with his mom, who may laugh about it…eventually.
Updated Wednesday, May 13 to provide context for the photos, a transcript of Shawn Simoes’ exchange with reporter Shauna Hunt, and more background about Hydro One (thanks to Rohan!).
