Moulton woman says she lost job for sporting Kerry sticker on car

[Christof]

MOULTON — Lynne Gobbell never imagined the cost of a John Kerry-John Edwards bumper sticker could run so high.

Gobbell of Moulton didn't pay a cent for the sticker that she proudly displays on the rear windshield of her Chevrolet Lumina, but said it cost her job at a local factory after it angered her boss, Phil Gaddis.

Gaddis, a Decatur bankruptcy attorney, owns Enviromate, a cellulose insulation company in Moulton.

Gaddis did not return phone calls from THE DAILY about the alleged Thursday firing.

<snip>

More here.
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Apparently if you don't support Fuhrer Bush, you lose your job. Get those Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers off your car or you're fired!

</sarcasm>

:grr: :mad:

Edit: Fixed link.

[KurtNYC]

1. Bankruptcy attorney?? He's lovin the Bush economy!

Ba da bump ba ba, he's lovin' it! (TM)

[Christof]

2. Sad, but true.

:grr:

[rocktivity]

3. No unemployment unless she proves she resigned for cause

She went to Gaddis' office..."I asked him if he said to remove the sticker and he said, 'Yes, I did.' I told him he couldn't tell me who to vote for. When I told him that, he told me, 'I own this place'...Gobbell said Gaddis told her to "get out of here."

"I asked him if I was fired and he told me he was thinking about it," she said. "I said, 'Well, am I fired?' He hollered and said, 'Get out of here and shut the door.' "

...(S)he asked (her manager)...if that meant for her to go back to work or go home. The manager told her to go back to work, but he came back a few minutes later and said, " 'I reckon you're fired. You could either work for him or John Kerry,' " Gobbell said.

She should said something like, "Well, I own my civil rights" and gone straight back to work. They'll claim that she quit, that they never actually told her she was fired. She wouldn't even be able to sue for wrongful termination. She might be able to say she resigned for cause, though. Some states will give you U.I. if you resign due to discrimination or harrassment.

:headbang:
rocknation

[rfranklin]

4. This sound like a civil rights case....

But, considering the judges that Bush has installed, we don't have those anymore.

[jsheriff]

5. Perfectly Legal

Sorry, but the employer generally has the right to fire someone for any reason, no explanations required. It sucks. But that's the law. Except for specific protections provided for religion, ethnicity, etc., employers have a free hand.

[zbdent]

7. Please tell that to the Clintons

when they decided to remove the travel office workers.

Guess they weren't allowed to remove whomever they wanted.

[northzax]

8. please, there is a difference between a private company

and a public office. Of course there is.

and this guy sounds like a schmuck, but there is no law against being a schmuck and using a private corporation for political purposes. I also wager that Alabama has no law forbidding discrimination based on political affiliation.

[UdoKier]

6. She should sue.

Assuming this is the whole story.

This guy sounds like a real bastard. His letter to the employees:

"Just so you will know, because of the Bush tax (cut):
I was able to buy the new Hammer Mill
I was able to finance our receivables
I was able to get the new CAT skid steer
I was able to get the wire cutter
I was able to give you a job"

It further says:

"You got the benefit of the Bush tax cut. Everyone did."

If this is a corporation, he didn't get a tax cut. If it's a sole proprietorship, he may have gotten a tax cut, but to imply that "the only reason you've got a job is Bush's tax cuts" is not only dishonest, it's downright dirty.

I hope she sues and gets a bundle. Of course then he'll fire a bunch of people and say it's because of a "frivolous lawsuit", because when chaced with a choice of firing some people and givng up his yacht/trips to europe/whatever, repugs ALWAYS pick layoffs.

My wife's Japanese father has a small furniture factory. He keeps his employees on even when there is no business, and keeps paying them even when he can't pay himself. And that is NOT uncommon in Japan.

Can you imagine the thugs who own business in this country sacrificing ANYTHING for their employees? And people wonder why there's no such thing as loyalty to company anymore.

[Mike Daniels]

9. She sure didn't handle the situation well.

Sounds like she magnified the argument by challenging her boss without being sure of her legal rights in this case.

Sorry but in this economy I'd be damn sure I have a legitimate legal argument before accusing my boss of violating my rights and inviting myself to be fired.

[Christof]

10. .

:kick: