Alabama Woman Fired Over Kerry Bumper Sticker!!

[mermaid]

Found this on another site, forgive me if this is duped here elsewhere, but I didn't see a subject for it...

I wish to God I was making this up. Sorry.

Lynne Gobbell of Moulton, Alabama, was told by her boss that she had to remove her Kerry/Edwards bumpersticker from her car or she would lose her job.

Gobbell gave this account:

"We were going back to work from break, and my manager told me that Phil said to remove the sticker off my car or I was fired," she said. "I told him that Phil couldn't tell me who to vote for. He said, 'Go tell him.' "

She went to Gaddis' office, knocked on the door and entered on his orders.

"Phil and another man who works there were there," she said. "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.' I told him he still couldn't tell me who to vote for."

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.' "

She said her manager was standing in another room and she asked him 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.
"I took off my gloves and threw them in the garbage and left," Gobbell said.


But wait--it gets worse.

Seems the owner, Phil Gaddis, had been placing this letter in his employees' paycheck each month.

Quote:
"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."



So it's okay for the owner to push his politics on his employees, but not for them to express themselves on their private property? God, I wish Alabama were anything remotely resembling a swing state.

And before any Bush supporters start defending this mouth-breather, imagine the stink you'd be raising if you were given the choice between your Bush/Cheney bumpersticker or your job. Then try to defend it.

[NMDemDist2]

1. i hope she has called the ACLU nt

[Pushed To The Left]

6. I hope so too!

[newscaster]

2. Wow

if ever there were grounds for a lawsuit.......
this is violation of freedom of speech. It is also
coercion.

[Gyre]

3. Her civil rights have been violated.

Could be worth millions or she could even own the company. The American dream. Sigh. Wish my boss would try something like that!

Gyre

[EastofEdon]

4. take him to court

he doesn't understand the most basic principles of democracy.
Paying out a huge lawsuit would be an incentive to start thinking about it.

[Pushed To The Left]

5. THIS is why

I believe "at will" employment needs to be BANNED!!

[mermaid]

10. "At Will" Employment

is nothing more than a way for a boss to violate civil rights laws, without appearing to do so.

I have to say that I would not want to work for a schmuck like Gaddis, anyway...but, still, I have to eat and pay rent, etc. And a boss has NO RIGHT whatsoever, to tell anyone what to do with THEIR private property (their car) nor do they have a right to push THEIR political beliefs onto their employees...or hold their employees' jobs hostage to make them vote as he thinks.

This is a tactic that was used greatly back in the Gilded Age of the 1890's. It's called coersion, it's called vote-buying, and it is, quite frankly, illegal.

I hope she sues his ass off and ends up owning the company. then this Gaddis jerk will see just what the Bush tax cut did for him! when he loses it all to the woman whom he tried to force to vote in a manner against her own will, and in accordance with his, by holding her livlihood hostage to her vote.

This is scummy tactics at it worst...but it shows you the level to which Bush supporters will sink to keep their boy in the White House!

Family values, my ass!!

[Yuna]

7. Is this not a felony?

I'm fairly certain firing an employee because they will not adopt your political beliefs before an election is illegal.

At the very least he should be charged with some kind of extortion.

[MaraJade]

8. This IS a felony. . .

This woman needs to get a lawyer and fast. Her boss is a Bush
C)*&sucker, and she needs to get a lawyer so that she can sue and
recover damages if she is fired. NO BOSS has a right to tell any employee what to do with her or his own property. If she's smart, she'll take advantage and file suit. I would bankrupt the idiot!

[jaymarvin]

9. This Figures

I had this on my blog as well. The Bush supporters are such nice people. It's like all the hate mail I get at work because I'm the only Liberal on my radio station. Oh, they tell you believe in America except when it comes to free speech. Then the radical right wants to destroy everything this country stands for. I hope this woman sues the you know what out of this guy.