Update Aug. 13, 6:30 p.m.: Updated with details about Tim Armstrong’s apology.
Just a week after editorial staffers at Cleveland’s Plain Dealer were laid off over the phone, one unfortunate employee of AOL’s local news operation, Patch.com, suffered an even more undignified termination: He was reportedly fired by Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong during a conference call this morning. That means about a thousand people were listening in when the boom came down. So much for being discreet. In a cruel twist, the subject of the call was the company’s forthcoming layoffs.