Bartender Fired After Facebook Post About Swampscott Selectman

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — A bartender from Salem claims he lost his job after writing a Facebook post about overhearing Swampscott Selectman Don Hause call the Black Lives Matter movement "liberal bull----."

Erik Heilman, 24, told The Boston Globe he was bartending at Mission on the Bay in Swampscott Thursday when he heard Hause make that and other comments that angered him. On Sunday, Heilman posted his account of Hause's comments on a Facebook group for Swampscott residents. Within two hours, he was out of a job.

"It just rubbed me the wrong way," Heilman told the newspaper. "Once I heard that, I felt I had the [chance] to do something about it."

Hause told The Globe that Heilman's description of the discussion he had with three other people was "inflammatory and untrue."

"One of the things I did say was that, unfortunately, the lootings had taken away from the true spirit of the Black Lives Matter movement and somewhat hijacked their message," said Hause, who is white. "But I didn’t say anything at all that was racist or inappropriate."

Heilman said he stands by his account but holds no ill will toward the restaurant or its owner, Wellington Augusto, even though he believes his firing was mishandled. In a follow-up Facebook post, he said he lined up another job within a day of being fired.