Today from the wonderful world of news I could have lived without we have the story of Tervor Keezer who was fired from Home Depot for wearing a pin that said, "One nation under God, indivisible." Apparently he had been wearing the pin for a year and was only recently fired. The company has a long standing, blanket policy that says only company approved pins are allowed to be worn on the aprons employees wear at work. Mr. Keezer was offered a pin that said "United we Stand" , but declined to wear it. Now the he has a civil rights attorney and blogs everywhere are buzzing about him. Mr. Keezer says he feels "...like I was punished for just loving my country." Well, if he was only interested in showing patirotism, the button the company approved should have been enough.
I went to Newsvine to see what comments were being posted and found that an overwhelming number of them support Home Depot. A couple, in support of the employee, questioned the fact that he had been wearing the pin for a year before being terminated. Here's the thing, we don't know how many chances he was given to remove or change the pin before he was let go. Most companies have a policy that allows for supervisors to provide at least one oral and up to three written warnings to any employee in violation of company policies before moving to termination. I'm betting that that also occured here.
The problem I have here folks is the fact that yet another individual in our country is looking for a way to not take responsibility for his/her own actions. This isn't about religion, it's about a violation of company dress standards. Private companies have the right to determine what an employee can and can't wear while at work. It's as simple as that. Mr. Keezer is looking for a way to shift responsibility from himself to the company he worked for. Grow up.
As a nation, we need to stop babying people and start making them responsible for the choices that they make. If you want to stand up for your principles, then fine, but don't expect me to feel sorry for you if it doesn't go your way. When you make a stand and say it's based in principle and then turn around and whine when you lose your job, get arrested, get supended from school...whatever....it does one thing: It points our how non-principle related your actions really were.
Mr. Keezer and others like him need to get over themselves.
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