I mean, well with how frequently this guy seems to spout bad opinions and stances on his FB, it was only a matter of time before SOMEONE called him out on his shit. If it wasn't you, it would have eventually had been someone else.
I think if I were in this situation, if the guy was overtly letting his world views influence how he does his job (whatever that may be..), then I think reporting him to HR is fine. Though I'm not sure how far a bad meme he posted on FB will get him.
To the people of this thread chastising OP for reporting him, I think to some degree, if someone's opinions bother you that much, I think you're fine for reporting a person. At some point you begin to feel uncomfortable with a person, and that carries over into the workplace.
The OP doesn't work with him and we have absolutely no idea of how he behaves in the workplace. That is why some of us are saying there is like it or not a difference between working with someone who behaves inappropriately in work, that you/someone else then reports to HR, and then someone you have no idea how they behave in work, and don't even apparently know outside of FB, and report to HR. Just because there is a difference does not mean I'm saying one or the other is wrong (neither are
wrong), it's just making it clear the OP does not work with the FB poster and apparently isn't a friend. I mean it's not illegal to report someone to their workplace for goodness sake.
Lots of people live double lives when it comes to their work. Heck to work in customer service you need to pretend that you have the sun up your arse and never feel stressed/grumpy or angry a day in your life. Now of course it so happens this guy is undoubtedly a racist asshole in his personal life, but people do go to work and act like champs and then are the worst of the worst outside of work. Karma should get delivered but I'll again stand by my stance, especially if it is a private FB profile, that the OP would have been best reporting to FB and blocking/removing friend. If it's a fully public FB profile and the OP has found it randomly, I'd still have reported to FB, but I guess on the HR front it's not as questionable around privacy for them to get access to an employees FB page they otherwise couldn't (if profile private).
This topic is largely conscious debating/hypotheticals, as that is what the OP asked about.
There are definitely other ways the OP could have handled the situation, but I have little respect for people who indirectly refer to Obama with that epithet. I wouldn't have contacted his boss or HR right away, I would have talked with him directly first before reporting it to Facebook and escalating it further. As for whether or not people in here are suggesting that it go unabated, there are several posts suggesting exactly that, along the lines of "oh it's just a meme," or "I don't care about it and wouldn't look at it, so it's fine," or "snitches get stitches."
I won't harass you over anything, so don't worry about that.
I've got zero respect for the guy either, he is a fucking asshole. More so with the second image. Yes I also do find GAFers saying it's just a meme and "you're a snitch" remarks to be unhelpful, not answering the OPs question and possibly a poor reflection of their character.
Initially I was pushing the OP hard on the conscious side because if he genuinely does doubt it, it's best he doesn't do it again and in the future uses tools that won't cause him to need to make a GAF post worrying. Lately I've moved onto privacy, as yes, as I said even assholes in the world (outside of those who do end up in jail) should be protected by privacy/freedom of speech. I can't condone being an asshole on social media, but I think it's at least worth debating whether or not an employer should get access to a private FB profile. I mean is it much different than saying your pin-locked mobile phone should be searchable by your employer? Yeah sure it is, as on social media you accept friends to be able to view your content, but what is similar is if the employer doesn't have access
granted by you, should they be allowed?
Heck I don't know enough about law but couldn't it even potentially be illegal to fire someone for content that is otherwise behind a private profile/piece of hardware? That is if it's supplied to the employer by someone else who has access but hasn't been given permission to share publicly?
Lastly I also understand for most GAFers it's unthinkable to discuss these kinds of things, asshole is asshole, karma has been served. They do matter though. I hope the OP can clear up whether it's a private or fully public FB profile.