Two things to remember if you think this Duck Dynasty thing is about anything except bigotry

[badtoworse]

38. Great questions. Here is how I would deal with them.

The cop is the easy one; let's deal with him first - I would fire him for several reasons. LEO's are in a special class meaning they are subject to a higher standard. An LEO that uses the N-word has clearly demonstrated an inability to enforce the law in an unbiased way. On a practical level, this means I'd have to worry about innocent people being arrested simply because they are black. It also means that guilty people might escape prosecution because defense attorneys could point to his demonstrated bias as part of their defense. I'd worry about lawsuits with this guy. At the highest level, a person with such obvious prejudice does not deserve to be a police officer and could not be counted on to do the job I would expect. For that reason, he's gone.

The teacher is also subject to a higher standard, but I would need to hear the full, unedited text of his / her remarks to decide what to do. We never "needed" a black president and we don't "need" another one. We don't "need" a president of any particular ethnicity, but what we do "need" is a pesident that will lead the country honestly and effectively. If that was his point, I'm OK with it. On the other hand, if he was implying that the current or a future president is not or could not be effective simply because he's black, I'd have a big problem with that and would likely fire him.

The employee that believes the president should be assasinated is a bit more difficult. Obviously, it's unlikely that such an employee could actually act on such a belief, but if I thought he would, if he could, I would need to do something. The concern here would be antisocial behavior that might be exhibited in other ways - someone else being killed (maybe me). In any case, I'd consult with HR and legal and would watch that employee like a hawk.

In my experience, the decision to terminate someone is rarely undertaken without consulting the experts - HR and legal. In most cases, the fact that I might be offended by the employee'sopinion, would not be a consideration. There are exceptions and you pointed out at least two.