Question:
On my second week at a new state job, a coworker laughed and casually dropped, “Hitler had some good ideas.” I froze, thinking it a joke, until another coworker and added, “Yeah. He knew how to get people in line. That’s why they’re still talking about him.”
I want to get along with my coworkers, but these comments sickened me. I haven’t raised this with my supervisor as he’s deep into conspiracy theories. Worse, he rocks a Sonnenrad for his Teams profile pic.
I’m all for the 1st Amendment and free speech and letting people have their politics, but how much of this do I have to put up with? I’m in a union, but is filing a grievance the right move? As a new employee, how do I protect myself and push back without blowing up my job?
Answer:
You don’t have to put up with this. Nazi imagery and praise signal exclusion, intimidation and threat, especially to Jewish employees, people of color, LGBTQ+ coworkers, immigrants and anyone with a basic grasp of history. It poisons the workplace and creates a hostile work environment.
Professional environments run on shared norms. Genocide praise violates them. Full stop. You’re asking for a workplace where extremist ideology isn’t okayed by coworkers or supervisors.
You’re wise to move thoughtfully, especially since you’re new and you supervisor appears aligned with conspiracy thinking. But new doesn’t mean unprotected.
You have two significant forms of protection working in your favor. You work for the State. Public employers almost always have explicit anti-harassment, anti-discrimination and professional conduct policies that go beyond the minimum legal threshold. And you’re in a union, and that gives you leverage.
A grievance may ultimately be the right move, but it’s not always the best first move. Here’s a safer sequence. Step one: Document what you see and hear. Write down dates, times, exact language used, and where it occurred. Save screenshots if symbols or profile images are involved. Stick to facts, not interpretations. You’re building a record.
Step two: Review your organization’s policies. Look specifically for sections on harassment, discriminatory conduct, misused of communication platforms, and professional standards. Nazi symbolism almost always violates these policies explicitly or implicitly.
Step three: Talk to your union steward confidentially. Your steward can help you assess risk, advise on timing and decide whether this should be handled as a grievance, an HR complaint, or both. They can help shield you from retaliation.
A grievance can be effective if the conduct is ongoing, management has failed to address it, and the behavior violates a clear policy or contract provision. Grievances, however, are formal and adversarial by design. Sometimes an HR complaint or ethics report prompts faster corrective action without putting a target on our back. Your steward can help you chose the safest path.
Consider going around your supervisor. When a supervisor displays a symbol associated with white supremacist ideology such as a Sonnenrad, it escalates the issue. Power dynamics matter. When the person with authority normalizes extremist symbolism, it chills speech, discourages reporting and sends a message about whose safety counts.
The First Amendment protects people from being arrested for speech. It does not require employers, especially public employers, to allow speech that creates a hostile or unsafe work environment. Praising Adolf Hitler or displaying Nazi symbols isn’t politics; it’s hate speech tied to a documented history of mass violence.
No one should be asked to work in an environment that requires swallowing hate in order to belong.
© 2025, Lynne Curry, PhD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
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Wow! This is just a bit more extreme than something I saw in a club I’m in where someone commented they really liked Charlie Kirk, esp. for his ability to speak off the cuff, but actually they liked a lot of things about him. I don’t remember others chiming in their agreement, but it was curious. Document first, check organizational policies, and talk to your union steward (and hope they aren’t also a Nazi sympathizer. Good was to move ahead and try to do something constructive.
Sue, this sort of thing has been reported to me by several, and when the blog reader told me about his supervisor and Sonnenrad (I didn’t at first know what it meant), I knew I had to tackle the topic. I did let one of my publishers know I would be more blunt than my normal balanced workplace self.