Tech COO sparks outrage after being pictured working at his own wedding: 'This should not be applauded'

For some people, work becomes such an intrinsic part of life that they take pride in being identified by their profession. The popular saying, "Work is worship," suggests a similar sentiment. However, one man recently left everyone speechless by choosing to work during his own wedding while guests were dancing and celebrating. According to a viral LinkedIn post by Tech CEO Torrey Leonard, his co-founder at Thoughtly, Casey Mackrell, saw nothing wrong in opening his laptop on his wedding day. Yet, this choice didn’t sit well with the online community.

The post included a photo from the wedding celebration, showing Casey sitting quietly in a corner during the lively party. "My co-founder Casey has earned a reputation as 'the guy who sits on his laptop in bars' from SF to NYC," Leonard wrote, explaining that their startup had just onboarded a new customer with an urgent timeline. "Last week, Thoughtly brought on a customer who needed to launch within two weeks. Casey just so happened to be getting married during that two-week window," the CEO added.

“So, here he is wrapping up a pull request at his own wedding,” Leonard added, seemingly showing his co-founder in a positive light. Notably, the duo runs a New York-based startup that helps businesses build and deploy human-like AI voice agents. However, they became an overnight sensation on the job posting portal for showing a level of dedication rarely seen before.

“Congrats, Casey—now please, go take some time off,” Leonard concluded, sparking a heated debate on whether Casey should have chosen such an auspicious occasion to do what he does every day. Among the hundreds of comments, Jamie S wrote, “This has to be one of the most depressing posts I've ever seen on LinkedIn.” “This would just make me question the time management skills of Thoughtly,” John Richards commented.

“Divorce papers being sent to his LinkedIn inbox so he actually sees them. In all seriousness, though, if this isn’t satire, this work ethic should neither be publicized nor applauded,” Sara Blagden remarked. Agreeing to it, Paul M opined, “Honestly, hugely disrespectful to your new spouse, her family and the people invited to the wedding. It is literally one day in a lifetime.” Others criticized the tech innovators for “ruining” the special occasion through this act.

“I truly hope that you scroll through some of these comments and take this as a learning experience. This is really an exhibit of a terribly toxic culture, whether you see it that way or not. You have the opportunity now to make a change,” Talisa Rafferty wrote. After the incident sparked a full-blown controversy, Casey took to the comments section to clarify that he "got back to dancing and champagne two seconds later." Some people also defended him, suggesting that it was his choice, depending on the circumstances. The post also circulated on several meme pages, with some dubbing it the most "depressing" one seen on LinkedIn in recent times.