Man says he wore neckwear to honor his late grandmother
January 24, 2011|By Dawn Rhodes, Tribune reporter
John Stone said that when he went to work Monday morning at Webb Chevrolet in Oak Lawn, he decided to wear a Green Bay Packers tie he's had for years to honor his late grandmother, a huge Packers fan.
Little did he know that the seemingly innocent gesture would cost him his job, Stone said.
Stone said that when he showed up at work, general manager Jerry Roberts called him over to his office and then ordered him to take off the Packers tie or else he would be fired. Stone said he thought Roberts was joking and went back to work.
An hour later, Stone said, Roberts came to the showroom floor and again demanded he take off the tie. When he didn't, he was fired, Stone said.
"I didn't know you could get fired for wearing a tie," said Stone, 34, of Chicago's Roseland neighborhood. "I'm supposed to dress up. I'm a car salesman."
Stone's grandmother died recently and was buried on Friday, two days before the NFC championship game, he said.
Asked by a WGN-TV reporter if he'd fired Stone for wearing a Packers tie, Roberts said, "Correct."
Roberts said the dealership had previously done promotions involving the Chicago Bears. "I don't feel that it was appropriate for him to go directly in contrast with an advertising campaign that we spent a lot of money on," Roberts told WGN reporter Judie Garcia.
But Stone said Roberts' reasons for firing him were never made clear to him, nor did he get a chance to explain the tie's emotional significance. Roberts told WGN-TV he didn't know that Stone's grandmother was a Packers fan.
"I don't know why he did it, I really don't," Stone said. "That's hurtful. I thought I was a good salesman."
That's what happened when you carry things too far. So your team lost whaaa! It's just a game get over it you bunch of babies.
The manager just needed to explain why wearing a Packers tie in light of the Bears promotions was bad. Sounds like he just fired him without discussion.
I blame the manager. Watch for commercials with this guy wearing his Packers tie for a new dealership.
Sounds like he was fired for sour grapes and the whole "promotions" thing was brought up after the fact to cover the manager's ass... just like the "My dead grandmother was a Packer's fan" was to justify his own idiocy at not removing a tie after being told he would be fired if he didn't.
Winnow wrote:The manager just needed to explain why wearing a Packers tie in light of the Bears promotions was bad. Sounds like he just fired him without discussion.
I blame the manager. Watch for commercials with this guy wearing his Packers tie for a new dealership.
Roberts said the dealership had previously done promotions involving the Chicago Bears.
'previously done promotions' doesn't make it sound like they were actually doing any sort of promotion currently.
That's where the article kind of falls short. Maybe "previously" was the day before this happened? Still think that the whole thing about being fired for being a Packers fan is silly.
cant wait for it to come out that this was a big hoax and this dudes grandma was a patriots fan or something, and he just did this with his boss to drum up some business from bears fans.
At-will firing still requires a legitimate reason. For instance, my friend Mike was fired from a management job literally because he threw a party the same night that his company was throwing their Christmas party. They were pissed because his party was waaaay better and lots of employees chose going there over the lame office party.
Anyway, they fired him for it. He hired a lawyer and quickly was paid off before any paperwork was even filed. Furthermore, he ended up not having to work for 2 years while receiving generous unemployment, which was largely paid for by his previous employer.
This was in Texas, which you know is an at-will state big time. I assume things would be easier in the more liberal leaning Illinois, however he could get a rapid Bears fan judge.
The sports fanatics and religious fanatics don't hold a candle to soccer parent. I actually had a parent try and tell one of my players to move to a different position during the game today. Several others yelled "SEND IT" when we needed to look for short outlet passes. I think that is the first time I actually almost had parents cost me a game.
When I was younger, I used to think that the world was doing it to me and that the world owes me some thing…When you're a teeny bopper, that's what you think. I'm 40 now, I don't think that anymore, because I found out it doesn't f--king work. One has to go through that. For the people who even bother to go through that, most assholes just accept what it is anyway and get on with it." - John Lennon