Chicago Car Salesman Fired For ...

[IDrinkaRum]

... wearing a Packers tie to work!

The salesman in question, John Stone, was wearing the tie in tribute to his Grandmother who was dead and buried two days before her favorite team played against the Chicago Bears.

To be fair, he was told twice to remove the tie or he'd be fired, but Mr. Stone did think his general manager was joking, and didn't think it'd actually happen.

However, is this even legal?

Could Mr. Stone get unemployment?

Should Mr. Stone have been fired?

The general manager said the car dealership had previously done promotions involving the Chicago Bears, however, they were not doing a promotion at that time with the Chicago Bears.

The general manager should have, IMHO, taken him into an office, explained why he should not wear the tie, and then afterwards if Mr. Stone still didn't take it off, then fire him, or at least send him home for the day.

But ... really ...?? Fired over a Packers tie?

Sheesh.

[LadyBarbossa]

This is when team loyalty has gone entirely TOO far. The reason for the firing was petty and uncalled for, so unless it's an At-Will state, there's definitely a case for this man. Hell, even if it is an AW state, I think he's still got a case.

[AdminAssistant]

According to CNN, he's already got another job at a different dealership.

[Greenday]

Hm, why would anyone fire someone who will make the dealership look stupid?

A Packers tie in Chicago? Are you stupid or something? It'd be like me going to buy a car and some salesman with a Patriots tie on comes up to me. Fuck if you think I'd buy anything from him.

He was told to do something completely legit by management TWICE and he blew them off both times. Firing him was a completely legit response.

[protege]

I'd have fired him as well. Not because of the *tie,* but because of the *insubordination.* I'm sure when the guy was hired, that in his paperwork somewhere, there's a clause about that...if you don't do what you're told, you can be let go. Just about *every* job I've had spells it out quite nicely.

Keep in mind that I live in a town that revolves around our sports teams 24/7. Many people get fired up about the Steelers, Pens, and Pirates. Er, just kidding about the Pirates But, you know what I mean--they're not going to want to deal with someone who supports a certain team from Cleveland, Baltimore, etc. during the season. With that said, I have a feeling that the guy wanted to get a rise out of people, and he's pissed that he got it. Suck it up and deal.

[Amanita]

I suspect that the guy honestly thought his boss was joking. I mean, firing somebody over a tie? Like Idrinkarum said, the boss should have handled things in a manner where it was obvious they weren't kidding, and gone from there.

[telecom_goddess]

I think firing someone over a tie, and a dumb sports team is just ridiculous. Really there are way more serious things to worry about than what tie someone is wearing...who cares.

[Cata]

To be fair, he was told twice to remove the tie or he'd be fired, but Mr. Stone did think his general manager was joking, and didn't think it'd actually happen.

Our local morning disc jockeys briefly covered this article this morning. According to them, he was told five times to remove the tie.

The general manager should have, IMHO, taken him into an office, explained why he should not wear the tie, and then afterwards if Mr. Stone still didn't take it off, then fire him, or at least send him home for the day.

But ... really ...?? Fired over a Packers tie?

Sheesh.

I agree that he should have been reprimanded and sent home for insubordination. I don't know if there were any extenuating circumstances (such as that salesperson being insubordinate in the past, absentee issues, etc.), and for that reason, I'm not really inclined to make a solid opinion one way or the other here. It's entirely possible that this was simply the proverbial last straw.

However, the atmosphere in a car dealership is completely different from most other sales situations. First impressions are critical, and setting an adversarial tone with your customers before anything has even been said is really amazingly bad business. To make matters worse, this entire incident took place the day after the Bears had sustained a stinging loss to the Packers - tempers and tensions are going to be a bit higher than usual over this.

If he files a lawsuit (the DJs were talking as though the lawsuit were already filed), he really doesn't have a leg to stand on. The company can illustrate insubordination, and sports affiliation is not a protected class. As ridiculous as the case sounds, I think the dealership is within their rights.

[Rageaholic]

I think firing someone over a tie, and a dumb sports team is just ridiculous. Really there are way more serious things to worry about than what tie someone is wearing...who cares.

It sounds like the manager was on a power trip. To him, it was the "principle" of the thing, the fact that his employee wouldn't obey him over something so trivial. Sure, since it was trivial, the employee could have just worn another tie (that's what I would have done), but the manager sounds like a bit of a D bag.

Then again, I don't all the outrage over a sports team losing, so I don't know...

[JustaCashier]

According to CNN, he's already got another job at a different dealership.

Can you imagine, if his new employer is one of those car dealers that innundates the local airwaves with not so sophisticated ads, what kind of fun they're going to have with that.

I can just imagine them saying something like "We don't care what team anybody roots for....." And maybe even feature him in the ad wearing his Packers tie!


Mike

[MaggieTheCat]

I get firing him for insubordination, but like others have pointed out, there should be more steps between "telling an employee he's doing something wrong" and "firing." At the very least, the manager could have given him a write-up, a suspension, something. As it is, it sounds like it went from, "You need to take that tie off" to "You're fired!" with no steps in-between, and I don't know many jobs that don't have a disciplinary hierarchy, especially for something trivial. Now, if the dude was doing something that was dangerous and could hurt/kill someone, like driving cars haphazardly around the parking lot, then yeah, going from warning #1 to termination might be justified. Or if the employee already had several warnings/write-ups/suspensions for other reasons and this was just the last straw.

[Andara Bledin]

This seems to be a bit of a he said/she said situation with uneven reporting as regards the two sides of the issue.

From what has been reported, I'm more on the side of the salesman than the owner. But not by a great margin.

^-.-^

[dendawg]

I could see another reason for him getting fired "for no reason":

Maybe he overreacted and the manager just didn't want to deal with his extreme vehemence.

[MadMike]

I think firing someone over a tie, and a dumb sports team is just ridiculous. Really there are way more serious things to worry about than what tie someone is wearing...who cares.

While I think the manager had a right to fire him over it, I think it was still stupid thing to do so. But then, I'm not a sports fan and never understood why people get so worked up over something as trivial as what sports team they like or don't like. Didn't our parents used to tell us, "It's only a game?"

[Eisa]

^I don't understand it, either. It's stupid. Sports are not the be-all and end-all of existence, are they? Who cares which team someone supports?

The salesman shouldn't have been insubordinate.

But I also don't think he should have been fired, either.