You thought you might have to worry about losing your job because you were on birth control, someday? Silly Wabbit. They don't need no stinkin' reason to fire you. Think I'm kidding?
The states on the forefront of the War Against Women have been waging a War Against Workers for ages. Let me say it again, in case you thought I misspoke: They don't need no stinkin' reason to fire you. If you love freedom... don't read any further.
14 people were fired from a Fort Lauderdale law firm on Friday.... because they wore Orange Shirts!
Apparently, one of the executives at the law offices of Elizabeth R. Wellborn, P.A. thought this was some sort of protest statement.... so they were all summarily fired - no severance, no warning, nada. Turns out it was a case of paranoia gone wild. The worker bees were just wearing orange as part of the "Sunshine State" motif -- getting ready for Friday Happy Hour.
"There is no office policy against wearing orange shirts. We had no warning. We got no severance, no package, no nothing," Lou Erik Ambert told the paper. "I feel so violated."
Gee... given the law firm's specialty is representing
the mortgage servicing community in a wide variety of litigation involving property, mortgage issues, title insurance claims, defense of contested foreclosures, quiet title actions and defense of claims brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Truth in Lending Act, Homeownership Equity Protection Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.
I'm guessing they aren't the first people to feel violated by this firm.
You want to hear the really ironic part? If they HAD been wearing the orange color as a protest, then they WOULD have (allegedly) been protected. But since it wasn't a protest, and they work in Florida, a "right to work" state.... they have no recourse.
And there's really nothing anyone can do about the terminations since Florida is an at-will state, meaning employers can fire an employee who doesn't have a contract "for a good reason, for a bad reason or even for the wrong reason, as long as it's not an unlawful reason," Eric K. Gabrielle, a labor and employment lawyer at Stearns Weaver, told the Sun-Sentinel. Gabrielle said there was no apparent violation of the law in this case.
And this is the same state that will soon start random drug testing for all state workers. How much you want to bet legislators won't be randomly picked?