A transplanted Midwesterner puts down roots in Alabama and helps show how "loyal Bushies" have corrupted our justice system.
Looks like I am not the only person to be fired recently for blogging on his own time.
I have company in the form of Michael J. McCarthy, a former vice president at Citigroup, who writes under the pseudonym "Large" at takeareport.com.
I'm Not Alone On The Blogger Firing Lines
McCarthy's blog is known for its crude references to women, homosexuals, and excretory functions. Someone evidently discovered that the author of the hugely popular blog (60,000 page views per day) was a Citigroup employee and decided he was violating company policy.
The firing came because McCarthy allegedly was "accessing and promoting" his blog at work. No one appears to offer any evidence that he was writing his blog at work.
Lindsay Beyerstein has an insightful overview of the McCarthy case, and its connections to my case, at her blog, Majikthise:
Lindsay Beyerstein on Fired Citigroup blogger
What about my case? Well, it seems my former employer, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has taken a strong interest in items I was keeping in my desk and on my computer desktop--even though those issues were not a factor in my termination. Why is that? My guess is it's because someone external to UAB is involved, probably someone with ties to the Alabama Republican Party and federal law enforcement:
A University's Peculiar Actions
As for the McCarthy case, I will give Citigroup credit for one thing: The company seems to have been fairly upfront about its actions. That's more than I can say for UAB.
The university has insisted I was fired solely because of work performance, that politics and blogging had nothing to do with it.
Unfortunately for UAB, it's own employee grievance committee found I should not have been fired at all, and the following audiotape (featuring yours truly and UAB Employee Relations Director Anita Bonasera) begs to differ with the notion that politics and blogging weren't involved:
Audio About Siegelman and Blogging