Ed Morrissey:
Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. Neither does at-will employment, which might matter more for Juli Briskman, who went from viral hero to the unemployment line within a matter of days. Briskman got captured flipping off Donald Trump’s motorcade as it passed through Sterling, Virginia by AFP photographer Brendan Smialowski. When she advised her bosses at a business that relies on government contracts about the photo, they fired her, Petula Dvorak reports:
SEE ALSO: Can HHS really lower the teen pregnancy rate?
On Halloween, after Briskman gave her bosses at Akima LLC, a government contracting firm, a heads-up that she was the unidentified cyclist in the photo, they took her into a room and fired her, she said, escorting her out of the building with a box of her things.
“I wasn’t even at work when I did that,” Briskman said. “But they told me I violated the code of conduct policy.”
That’s because Briskman posted the photo to her social-media accounts:
Her bosses at Akima, who have not returned emails and calls requesting comment, showed her the blue-highlighted section 4.3 of their social media policy when they canned her.
“Covered Social Media Activity that contains discriminatory, obscene malicious or threatening content, is knowingly false, create [sic] a hostile work environment, or similar inappropriate or unlawful conduct will not be tolerated and will be subject to discipline up to an [sic] including termination of employment.”
HuffPost offered up the photo in question, along with more detail on Briskman’s potential claim against Akima. She tells Jennifer Bendery that a male executive was allowed to take down politically charged speech off of his Facebook page rather than get fired
Woman fired for flipping off Trump's motorcade https://t.co/HLU1nPug8g pic.twitter.com/ZZlrPBSzFC
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) November 6, 2017
Briskman, who worked in marketing and communications at Akima for just over six months, said she emphasized to the executives that she wasn’t on the job when the incident happened and that her social media pages don’t mention her employer. They told her that because Akima was a government contractor, the photo could hurt their business, she said.
Virginia is an employment-at-will state, meaning employers can fire people anytime and for any reason. But Briskman said what’s been particularly infuriating is that a male colleague kept his job after recently posting lewd comments on his Facebook page that featured Akima LLC as his cover photo. She said this colleague was reprimanded for calling someone “a [expletive] Libtard [expletive]” on Facebook, but was allowed to delete the post and keep his job.
At-will employment theoretically allows for arbitrary hiring and firing decisions. In practice, however, it’s a lot more complicated. A brief Google search turns up this basic FindLaw primer on the myriad of exceptions to that theory on at-will employment, including obvious issues such as discrimination and public-policy exceptions (whistleblowing would be one example.) Given that most employment in the US is non-contractual, one would think the theoretical is hardly worth mentioning, as nearly everyone is familiar in some ways with the exceptions.
Nope. A good thing. About time. Very pleasing to see some liberal big mouth having their attention-craving disrespect blow up in their stupid sore loser faces.
Up to and including violent physical threats against the President and Republicans are excused away as expressions of free speech but anyone that refuses to participate in a gay wedding is threatened with loss of income, loss of their business or loss of their life. It is long overdue that the same rules liberals enjoy exploiting start getting applied to them.
The NFL will not allow a show of reverence to slain police officers because that might offend players and people with an unhealthy and irrational hatred of cops because of the propaganda they CHOOSE to devour but disrespecting the flag, national anthem and military is righteously protected… even though the NFL has RULES stating such disrespect is forbidden.
What do I regret in this story? Sadly and ironically, due to Trump’s improvements of the economy, this bitch will have a much better chance of replacing her job than under the President she worshiped as an idol or the corrupt criminal she is so butt-hurt that lost.
Maybe some would like a few more details about what happened before jumping to hasty conclusions.
She flipped off President Trump — and got fired from her government contracting job
She was a bicyclist who flipped off a motorcade. Does Trump’s armored road hog not provide his delicate sensibilities with sufficient protection?
The incident happened on her own time, when there was nothing that would in any way connect her impulsively raised middle finger to the company she worked for.
First Amendment, anybody?
Consider what one of the company directors had openly posted on a Facebook public discussion earlier, taking no measures to conceal his connection with or position in the company. That, for some reason, was entirely OK.
She’ll probably get a lawyer. It was an unwarranted and wrongful firing. Government contractors should understand this. The rules haven’t changed just because Donald Trump is President, even though he may think they have. And there’s that other unwritten rule of human interaction: If you want respect, you should begin by showing it.
@Greg: The left has created a might strong precedent.
Trump-haters cause a restaurant to close temporarily with violent threats
https://www.mrctv.org/blog/tucson-restaurant-closes-after-receiving-threats-pro-trump-facebook-post
Now in California, if you use the wrong pronoun, you can be fined
Google working with far left, Soros-funded groups to identify “hate crime”… as they define it
https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2017/08/19/propublica-working-google-document-hate-threatens-conservative-bloggers/
The left still trying to kill free speech and control what can be said
http://www.truthrevolt.org/commentary/tapson-lefts-next-step-redefining-hate-speech-violence
Breaking laws to tamp down the 1st Amendment
http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/04/extremely-unethical-cnn-draws-backlash-after-threatening-to-id-reddit-user-behind-trumps-wwe-video/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=atthedcpolitics
Liberals are supportive of freedom of speech… as long as you don’t say the wrong things
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/12/26/at-the-university-of-oregon-no-more-free-speech-for-professors-on-subjects-such-as-race-religion-sexual-orientation/?utm_term=.e22fee72e28a
Democrat party platform to attack free speech
http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/27/dem-party-platform-calls-for-prosecuting-global-warming-skeptics/#ixzz4CnHHPuko
According to Democrat, 1st Amendment does not protect facts about global warming
http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/13/dem-congressmen-first-amendment-doesnt-protect-global-warming-skeptics/#ixzz4BYXWLmbV
@Greg: Let her lawyer up, what would she want, her job back to work with trump supporters? Its not a multi-millIion dollar suit, if she was a really good employee maybe they wouldnt have fired her, obviously could be replaced quite easily.
@kitt: Poor old Cowgirl Wilson just lost her rock star position to this new liberal icon. The left will be promoting her for President within the week.
Let us be guided by the open minded clarity of the left:
@kitt:
Possibly the right to anonymously raise her middle finger on her own time, as a private citizen, without retaliation from her employer.
If she were a Trump supporter fired by a liberal employer with all other circumstances being the same, the right would be totally outraged.
@Greg:
Kind of hard to “annonymously” post the picture to your own Facebook account and say, “That’s ME! That’s ME! Hey, everybody, THAT’S ME!!”
She signed an agreement to not publicly behave like an idiot.
Because it would be outrageous. However, as I showed, the left readily accepts it, as long as it is applied to conservatives. Much like IRS targeting, the left is more than happy to infringe on any and all rights, as it benefits their agenda. This is merely a case of the left’s rules being applied to a leftist. Stings, don’t it?
@Bill… Deplorable Me, #7:
Actually, no, she DID NOT say “that’s me.” Here is the Facebook post in question, which you (and, no doubt, her lawyer) will note has not been subsequently edited in any way. (Facebook pictures on which a caption has been added, removed, or changed bear a legend showing that they have been.)
She does not ID herself. Nor does she ID the motorcade of our Princess and the Pea President. (I could have done an obvious pun there, but have refrained.)
Essentially what we have are any 3 black Chevy SUVs in a row. Nor does anything in the photo refer to her place of employment.
For this “outrage” you get fired?
@Greg: I guess motorcades just started during this administration? When Obama would land at Love Field, all the hangars had to be closed and no one could move about between the hangars. The traffic snarls were abysmal. But, this fat cow is the first person ever inconvenienced, right?
You think that is the sum of it? How would anyone know it WAS her? No, she was really proud of flipping off the President and made sure everyone knew that was HER.
She apparently works for someone that has some respect for the United States and the President. They did what they should have done, did what some liberal sore loser would do (has done) when an employee shows respect for the current President or lack of reverence for that past failure, Obama.
Sorry, these are liberal rules. Suck it up and live by them. WE have.
How? By sending out telepathic messages? Her idiot employers have just stepped on her First Amendment rights. They’re apparently not even smart enough to understand their own Section 4.3:
Maybe they need to look up the meaning of each word. Or have their attorney explain the meaning to them. What they don’t like is her opinion.
Wahh waahh waah go the snowflakes,snivel,snivel snivel go the wimps
@Greg: I recall a rodeo clown wearing an Obama mask. Does your defense apply to him as well? Go look up what happened to him.
@Greg:
As I said, that is the rule you liberals established. Anyone that does something you don’t like, you can exert all the powers you have over them to either get them to atone and align themselves with the liberal view or do all in their power to ruin their lives. So here’s a little liberal crone getting the same treatment and, waaa, waaa, waaa, that’s not fair, 1st Amendment rights, etc. etc. etc.
Do YOU understand the meaning of THAT word? Do YOU understand what that gesture means? Unless she was asking Trump for a date, that would be ruled as obscene and she posted it on her Facebook.
Perhaps this would have been a good time for Facebook to apply their unevenly enforced “civility and obscenity” rules on someone other than a non-liberal. It could have saved her job, though she would still remain as stupid as before.
@Mully: Though these are rules created by liberals, no, they do not believe they are to be subject to those rules. Just as Obama is not subject to following the Constitution or Hillary subject to rules and laws governing the handling of classified information or perjury.
@Bill… Deplorable Me: Looks like the Asia trip is going great so far, looks like a good time feeding fish and congratulating Japanese car companies for assembling in USA.
@Bill… Deplorable Me, #13:
Surely our cat-grabbing president is not such a delicate little flower that some female bicyclist’s hand gesture upset him.
@Greg: That makes several times you have forsaken your tenet of “innocent until proven guilty”. I’m beginning to think that is not a hard and fast rule of yours, but merely another of your liberal shields to hide behind when you want justice to favor only the liberal.
Also, I’m pretty sure Trump has endured much worse from you amoral liberals, up to and including his children being insulted and threatened. Further, I doubt Trump cares (or even likes to think about) what this sore loser crybaby does with her hands.
He’s endured much worse from his fellow conservatives. Assuming you wish to call his words or behavior conservative.
@Greg: https://downtrend.com/71superb/jesse-jackson-accused-of-groping-black-female-journalist
https://pagesix.com/2017/11/07/manhattan-da-to-seek-weinstein-indictment-next-week/
Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Anthony Weiner, Kevin Spacey, etc. etc. etc. Not the argument you want to get into.
You can save your tu quoque response for someone who can’t recognize a logical fallacy when it’s tossed out as a diversion. The discussion isn’t about Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Anthony Weiner, or Kevin Spacey. It’s about the man currently occupying the highest office in the land, who has the honor and fate of the nation in his hands, who Ted Cruz observed “is utterly amoral.”
Everybody but this guy’s enablers and followers seem to be able to see what he is, by examining his past and current deeds and behavior. Even many of those can see, but won’t admit it.
@Greg:
No, it’s about fact vs fiction. You would like me to believe that you find it objectionable that Trump said naughty words (because that’s all he did) yet you have supported proven sex offenders and defend a party that is rife with sex offenders, defends sex offenders and is supported by sex offenders. Thus, I cautioned you not to waste your time. You don’t get to make false accusations against someone without having the truth you have ignored or defended thrown in your face.
Right. “Beware evil doers, wherever you are!” (Unless they happen to be the people you’ve recently put charge.)
@Greg: Is that another creed like “innocent until proven guilty” you abandon when convenient?
Interesting Virginia gubernatorial election. You might want to look up the word foreshadow.
And New Jersey, too. I also like the word portend.
@Greg: You mean, Democrats using racism in their campaigns? Nothing new there.
@Greg:
That would kinda conflict with the very fiber and purpose of FA wouldn’t it? Isn’t that strictly not what they do?
Unfortunately, looking at the unhinged, plutocratic, racist, and radical list of judges he’s appointed to lifetime positions and confirmed by his Brownshirt congress, that statement may not be short lived..
@Ajay42302: Hey, speaking of filling in the details:
What is your substantiation for calling Trump a racist?
Does Hillary dropping N-bombs make her a racist (and, by extension, all of her supporters)?
Is ANTIFA committing violence?
Shouldn’t the left be demanding Yale University change its name because Elihu Yale was a slave trader and the school was built with support from slave traders?
Tell us of how Trump “breached the Constitution”.
Why do liberals get to make vile, unsubstantiated accusations in media but conservatives get fired if they voice a non-liberal opinion?
How is questioning Obama’s demonstrably dubious birth records racist?
Are immigration laws expected to be enforced?
Who is justifying “mass murdering people not of their heritage”?
Who has ever asserted that “all Hispanic and Latinos are murders, rapist, and drug dealers”?
When did Trump ever grab anyone’s vagina and who was it?
What did Trump lie about?
Whose wages did Trump steal?
What is the nature of Trump’s “con”?
How did I indicate your answers would be meaningless?
What answer have you provided that has been ignored?
Can you show us an incident when conservatives overreacted to a tragedy and accused the wrong responsible party?
Do you denounce those who are rejoicing in the slaughter in Las Vegas and using it for obscene political gain?
Trump said a word. Weinstein groped, fondled and… whatever else that shall be revealed. Are you intellectually incapable of understanding the difference?
What is Trump doing that is “energizing the KKK and Neo-Nazis”?
Provide examples of anyone that “harrass and falsely imprison and then beat and attributed death to people of color (even openly declaring his prison as his “own personal concentration camp)”.
https://www.lifezette.com/referral/woman-fired-flipping-off-trump-gives-first-live-tv-interview-said-will-infuriate/
If you can bear through it, it is easily determined that this airhead is simply another liberal that has created an imaginary list of grievances in her hollow head (with the help of our corrupt, lying liberal media) and thinks her baseless, fantasy world accusations justifies her giving the President of the United States the finger, jeopardizing other people’s jobs and livelihood and perpetuating the liberal lie. All this is instigated, not by any actions of Trump (for, like the example of AJ and my repeated, unaswered questions, she also will never have substantive support for her accusations), but by infantile fact that she is pissed because she did not get what she wanted out of the 2016 Presidential election.
It is absolutely delicious to see an airhead, butt-hurt liberal get the treatment so many conservatives have suffered for the crime of having their own opinion. Good luck to her former employer if keeping her off their payroll and unable to infect the rest of the workforce with her unbalance, hatred and bigotry.