AUSTIN, Texas -- The Central Texas lawyer who tweeted about Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos last Friday has resigned from the law firm where he worked.
On a now-deleted Twitter account, Robert Ranco tweeted about DeVos and sexual assault.
In a statement Monday, The Carlson Law firm said it did not make a rash decision in response to the outcry on social media.
Full statement from Craig Carlson :
For those of you who are wondering why this took so long, let me start by saying that this firm is a family and believe it's up to me to show the same loyalty that I ask of my people. I wasn't going to make a rash decision about a member of this family just to appease people on social media.
That said, I considered the health of everyone in our organization, promised my partners and my employees that we would act according to the values of our firm, and sat down to speak with Mr. Ranco.
In the end, we came to the same two conclusions:
With over 150 employees - 75% or whom are women - anyone in our company advocating or even expressing apathy towards sexual assault is affront to all victims and a line that simply cannot be uncrossed.
This has been an enormous distraction that has taken us away from the mission of our firm, which is to care for and help people.
Understanding and accepting this, Rob is taking full responsibility and choosing to resign.
As a man of faith, believer in forgiveness, and longtime friend, it is my sincere hope that Rob with learn from this experience and go on to have a very successful career.
According to the law firm's website, Ranco is an adjunct professor of paralegal studies at Austin Community College since 2015. When asked if Ranco would continue his position at ACC, the school said in a statement that
The recent social media comments made by a part-time employee on his personal page do not represent ACC’s vision, mission, and values. The college does not condone these comments and their sentiment. ACC is reviewing the situation and will take appropriate action.
Last week, DeVos announced a review of the previous administration's guidance on sexual assaults on campuses. DeVos cited concerns the policy denied the rights of the accused.