During a town hall meeting, Clearlink CEO James Clarke expressed some curious ideas about employees’ work habits. In a video Vice referred to as “bizarre,” Clarke called remote employees back to the office, citing about 30 who hadn’t opened their laptops in a month. He also complimented an employee who sold his dog, presumably because he couldn’t care for it given his aggressive work schedule.

In addition to raising ethical questions about pets and work-life balance, the video could start a conversation with students about management’s responsibilities. If employees aren’t working, how is performance being tracked? Students also might consider whether Clarke’s talk is motivating. What’s the best way to inspire people to improve performance (assuming output is tracked in some objective, meaningful way, and managers are also held accountable)?

Without evidence, Clarke offered his opinions about caretakers, saying the data would support his point of view “in time”: “I do believe that only the rarest of full-time caregivers can also be productive and full-time employees at the same time.”

The Vice article says that Clarke noted “for unclear reasons, that he went to Oxford and Harvard,” adding, “two universities of which I'm an alum, but which were also founded and operated under the Judeo-Christian ethic.” Clarke attended Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management program. Students can discuss whether attendance makes him a “alum” and whether including this point increased or decreased his credibility.

After the backlash, the company issued a statement:

James Clarke could not be more excited about the future of the company that he founded over 20 years ago, to which he returned in 2022 as CEO. We look forward to having these team members join us at our new world-class Global Headquarters in Draper, UT and appreciate the efforts of all of our committed team members–which includes those who work in office and those who will continue to work remotely–as we accomplish our best work together.

On its website, Clearlink boasts winning workplace awards, shown here. Would students want to work for this company?