I completely disagree.  OP stated this communication took place during the weekend, via Whatsapp, rather than Slack.  Clearly, this was personal business, through personal channels, on personal time.<p>If it was at a bar after work, there would be no reason for us to know about it other than the suspicion that it <i>might</i> later spill over into work matters.  Zero tolerance is a horrible way to run <i>anything</i>, not just a business.<p>It is true that &quot;at will&quot; employment means you can be fired at any time, for any reason, or no reason at all, but if you choose to run your business that way, do not be surprised when otherwise disassociated people abandon ship.<p>If I worked at this company and discovered that a co-worker had been fired on a justification this flimsy, I would be job hunting again at 5:01 PM that very day.  Firing is an <i>extremely disproportionate</i> response to making a failed proposition to a co-worker on personal time, through personal channels.<p>As immediate termination seems to be a somewhat popular response here, I just have to say &quot;<i>What the Hell is wrong with you people?</i>&quot;  You are now building the world you will have to live in later.  I hope you appreciate the irony when popular sentiments change and your livelihood is subsequently threatened because your lifestyle and opinions are now unpopular.<p>You are, in all seriousness, advocating loss of employment and potentially long-lasting career damage as extrajudicial punishment for the heinous crime of <i>privately sending inappropriate text messages</i>.