Several neighbors in Fenton's town stood up for his right to express himself with flames.Here is coverage of the 9/11 event from Russia Today:
"Good for him for burning the Koran," neighbor Jacqui Marquez, 40, said.
"Everybody's entitled to their opinion ... by firing him, they're sending a message that there's no freedom of speech. They're completely wrong for doing this."
"He's a family man," neighbor Randy McConnell, 43, said.
"He loves his kids and he loves trains. I don't agree with what he did, but he shouldn't lose his job over it. That's his right."
If Fenton was fired for burning the Koran while off-duty, his First Amendment rights probably were violated, Chris Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union said.
"The Supreme Court has recognized a constitutional right to burn the flag. As reprehensible as it may be, burning the Koran would be protected as well."
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Koran Page Burner Derek Fenton Fired From NJ Transit Job
Do you think he should have been fired for burning pages of the Koran in public on a street in New York City on September 11, 2010? He was off duty. His employer states that he was an "at will" employee, meaning he can be fired for any or no reason. However, I have seen mixed reactions, and some feel that his employer could still get in trouble for this.
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12 comments:
Well, let's fire this thing up.
I personally know there are much better ways to object to islam, such as simply reporting on their barbaric practices day after day.
The news that comes out of America is cherry picked by the bearded ones to keep their robots fired up. Let's report all the news from over there. Stick the barbarism in their face, and ask each time 'Is this a religion of peace?'
But if people are going to burn korans, then let's all burn one and put it on youtube.
He has a right to burn the Koran. However, he doesn't have a right to escape the consequences of his actions. People get all nutted up when something like this happens, and the first thing they start spouting is "FREE SPEECH!".
The First Amendment protects your freedom of speech from the government, not from a private employer. If you do something that may reflect badly on your employer, like burning a Koran (or a US flag for that matter), then that employer has to have the right to cut you loose.
Even if you are engaging in nuttiness on your own time.
If he had burned any other book they wouldn't have blinked twice. If he had burned the Bible it probably wouldn't have made the news, much less been an issue. I am so tired of our country bending over backward to please Muslims, while at the same time offending people of other faiths (not just Christians - but mostly Christians). No, he should not have been fired. What he does on his days off are his business. But, I must admit - it doesn't shock me.
On my local radio station this afternoon, the host tried to put it in the perspective of how he (the host) might feel if someone burned a Bible or the American Flag.
He (the host) thought he would be upset in that case, and would therefore feel Fenton deserved to be fired.
I disagree wholeheartedly.
Fenton is not a celebrity or the public face of a business; his actions caused no harm to NJTransit.
His termination, though, might cause NJTransit harm... they may be in for a lawsuit that they are likely to lose.
Well, of COURSE he deserved to be fired for burning a Korean. My God, people, he set fire to an innocent Asian just because he was protesting...wait, what? He burned a KorAN?
Never mind.
I do not believe he should have been fired, but I do believe his employer has the right to fire him. I noticed that the NY Civil Liberties Union may be interested in the case. It will be interesting to see where it goes.
I certainly do not think the police should have done a thing about it, because obviously it is not a crime in America to burn a Koran...unless the fire was the catalyst.
Free Speech = What goes around comes around. Still a stupid thing to do, but he probably wouldn't have been fired for burning a copy of the New Testament.
Read about this some place else,and was shocked. What union reps don't like freespeech, especially on personal time.
It isn't like he did while on the clock or anything.
Man, what is this country coming too?
This no different than firing someone for being in a different political party than the boss. It's a freedom of speech issue and his boss had better act quickly to get him back. There are armies of lawyers waiting for cases like this. It will cost that Transit Authority a bundle they can't afford. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID political correctness!
Odie, that is precisely the issue I was trying to get at. Can an employer fire someone "at will" if the employer finds out they belong to the opposite political party.
Sounds like a law suit to me. His employer is punishing him for expressing his first amendment right of freedom of expression. Did the order to fire him come down from the mayor's office? I mean, Bloomberg has a billion dollar deal pending with Dubai right now.
Um.. does that bother anyone besides me?
Personally, I am torn between his right to destroy the Koran and the First Amendment.
I do however agree that he should not have been fired. I had my job threatened because I listen to Rush Limbaugh at work and my boss said 'turn it off for go home'.
As far as him burning the Koran, on one hand I can see his point because of the teachings of the Koran (I personally feel the same way about the late Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible), but on the other hand, we not only have to consider the First Amendment Right to 'Freedom of Speech' but also the First Amendment Right to 'Freedom of Religion'...we do NOT have to agree with another persons religious beliefs but the First Amendment does protect (or at least it is supposed to) the rights of others to worship as we see fit.
I think this is one of those times we all say "we're damned if we do, and damned if we don't".
But honestly, he should sue the pants off his boss for firing him for something he did on his off day. That was totally wrong.
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