Negative Amanda Todd post costs man his job

Aman who posted negative comments about thedeath of Amanda Toddwas fired from his job after an Airdrie, Alta., woman alerted his employer.

Todd is the 15-year-old who killed herself last week after sufferingyears of bullying. Many online memorial sites have popped up in response to her death, and thousands of peoplehave posted comments on them.

Christine Claveau was looking at a site when she sawwhat she thought wasa particularly hateful anonymous post.

She said the commentread, "It's about time this bitch died."

Claveau said she tracked down the identity of the sender in Toronto and forwarded a note to his employer, the retailstore Mr. Big and Tall.

The man was fired.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Amanda Todd," saidDave McGregor, president and CEO of Grafton-Fraser Inc. which operates the retail chain, in response to a query from CBC News.

"Out of respect for the family, I decided not to comment further on this situation beyond our statement that we took the action we felt to be appropriate. I will tell you that the individual in question is no longer employed with our company."

McGregor saidthe company's ethics are based on tolerance, respect and fair and honourable treatment of all individuals, internally, with customers and the population as a whole.

"We have zero tolerance for the mistreatment of others no matter what form it takes," he said. "We feel that the focus should remain on the issue at hand, which is bullying and how we work together to stop it. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Todd family."

Mixed reaction online

"I'm glad that they fired him and they took such a strong stance against bullying," said Claveau.

"But I just think that even having him reprimanded or having the embarrassment of his company knowing what he did is what I was aiming for, just to sayyou know what you do in your pastime can affect who you are atwork and your personal life too."

Claveau said she has received a lot of response to what happenedmost of it positive but some of it negative.

"You can't please everybody, so I'm getting a lot of people saying I was the bully in the matter, or it wasn't right to contact his employer. So I'm getting a little bit of negative backlash."

Claveau said so-called "internet trolls" must be held accountable for what they say and do online.

"Trolls" are people who anonymously post negative comments on the internet to elicit a reaction.

She said she's more encouraged than ever now to monitor the internet and "out" those behind hateful statements.