School Janitor Fired for wanting American Flag treated with respect.

[The Professor]

Yep...people on their probationary period can be let go for any or no reason whatsoever.

Almost true. However, even those on probationary periods cannot be fired for a number of reasons including, of course, prohibited discriminatory reasons such as race, age, union support, etc. Right-to-work states are not immune from an assortment of laws which bar terminations for illegal reasons, and probationary status does not give the employer a right to violate anti-discrimination laws.

I would urge that anyone who is terminated for any reason contact an attorney who specializes in employment law. I am aware of a number of probationary employees who appealed their termination and won.

Edited to add that OP's link revealed the employee filed a claim for an on-the-job injury prior to his termination; thus the employee may be able to allege illegal retaliatory termination for exercising his rights under his state's labor laws. Federal law and – as far as I know – the labor laws of every state make it illegal for an employer to fire someone because they filed a claim involving an on-the-job injury. An employee's probationary status is irrelevant.

You really think this guy doesn't already have a lawyer?

I hope so but I can't be sure. If he erroneously believes - as some posters on this forum have - that he has no rights whatsoever as a probationary employee, he may not have looked for an attorney. There is nothing in the OP's article which suggests he has hired an attorney, but I hope that after all this publicity someone has steered him to a competent labor lawyer. The problem is that lawyers cannot solicit him directly, so someone he knows must encourage him to see an attorney.

 

[OriginalShroom]

have you considered that he may have offered to and the female employee that handled the flag actually wanted to keep the job for some reason?
Come on bodie. You're a vet can't you come down on this guy's side for once, or does he sound to conservative or homophobic for you?

i would come down on his side if he took action rather than being a little weasle. How long do you think that kind of behavior would have flown in the military?....ok, besides the air force.....

in the military, he would have gotten some action when he first reported the situation. He wouldn't have needed to go outside the chain of command.

qft

 

[RoadVirus]

So the man couldn't hold that job as a school janitor for 3 months. If we had guns in our schools that janitor could make that flag crumpling co-worker dance and if he lived in Wyoming instead of Colorado, he could have a gun as long as it wasn't concealed. Have you wondered why he didn't think of taking the flags down himself, instead of telling someone else how they have to do it, or was he still being trained how to sweep a floor?

Are you really and truly that hateful and unable to separate one issue from another?

He's a Liberal Zombie...what do you expect?

 

[Sallow]

The politics forum is rife with news accounts of people/students being treated unfairly in public schools. We should close all public schools immediately and return all responsibility for educating our children to parents and religious institutions.

LOL Oh, good idea. Religious institutions don't mistreat children. Especially not the Catholic Church.

And for many children, the only time they are safe from abuse (verbal, emotional, physical and sexual) is when they are in school.

As far as the janitor in this story: I'm with those who question the credibility of a man who cannot even hold down a janitor's job for 3 months without getting fired. I think there is more to it than this flag thing.

 

[yidnar]

He was a probationary employee who publically embarassed his school

There are other ways to ensure proper treatment of the flag without posting photos over the internet. Protocol is key as you should report it up the chain of command. As a vet, he should have explained how much it means to him and offered to take down the flag properly

Probationary employees should not make waves...and he made waves

if the guy that was balling up the flags and disrespecting them would have been fired you would be raising hell .

 

[Politico]

So the man couldn't hold that job as a school janitor for 3 months. If we had guns in our schools that janitor could make that flag crumpling co-worker dance and if he lived in Wyoming instead of Colorado, he could have a gun as long as it wasn't concealed. Have you wondered why he didn't think of taking the flags down himself, instead of telling someone else how they have to do it, or was he still being trained how to sweep a floor?

Are you really and truly that hateful and unable to separate one issue from another?

There is only one issue.

Probation period.

 

[Esmeralda]

Todays Americans have little understanding or respect for the flag. It is a combination of ignorance and indifference. They have no problem with flying the flag until it is in tatters or draping themselves in a flag like a beach towel. During the National Anthem they never bother to remove their hats or show respect.

If you were not in the military or the scouts you have no concept of how a flag should be folded or treated respectfully.

I don't think that is true. I think most Americans understand how it is supposed to be handled. I am sceptical about the claims of this janitor regarding the flag, the handling of the flag, his other problems with his job, etc. He seems to have no credibility. The flag may very well have not been mishandled. It would be very surprising and rather incredible that if it were actually be mishandled, school administrators would not care: my experience of school administrator in the US, and I have quite a bit of experience in dealing with them on a professional basis, is that they would be very much concerned if the flag were not being handled with respect. I think the janitor is full of shit and probably deserved to be fired for other reasons, now he's looking to get some compensation saying he was unfairly fired. He's also apparently trying to get compensation for an on the job injury. A piece of work this guy seems to be.

I find it interesting that you would think a veteran who has given at least 4 years service to his country is lying about the mistreatment of the flag. Considering he posted corroborating photos on facebook, you seem to be saying he crumpled up the flag himself and placed it in a couple different locations.
Why would you believe this vet is lying? The school did not even deny the flag was mistreated. It has only claimed that he wasn't fired for his facebook posts.

I think you owe the man an apology, don't you?

I find it interesting that you would think just because someone is a veteran that his/her veracity is unquestionable, that someone who is a veteran can be completely trusted, counted on, honest, industrious, good hearted, etc. Veterans are just like everyone else: they come in a multitude of different packages as far as character. This guy could be a lazy, no good son of a bitch for all you or anyone else knows, who just happened to sign up for the military because he couldn't get any other job, put in the minimum effort during his time and left because it was too hard or he was afraid of being killed or wounded in action. You have no idea at all about this guy except for the row he has created over this flag thing. If he had the opportunity and wherewithal to photograph the crumpled flag, why didn't he just fold it up himself? Would you have just stood by and left the flag in a mess instead of folding it up yourself? I wouldn't have. I would have put it in proper order.

 

[Ravi]

I don't think that is true. I think most Americans understand how it is supposed to be handled. I am sceptical about the claims of this janitor regarding the flag, the handling of the flag, his other problems with his job, etc. He seems to have no credibility. The flag may very well have not been mishandled. It would be very surprising and rather incredible that if it were actually be mishandled, school administrators would not care: my experience of school administrator in the US, and I have quite a bit of experience in dealing with them on a professional basis, is that they would be very much concerned if the flag were not being handled with respect. I think the janitor is full of shit and probably deserved to be fired for other reasons, now he's looking to get some compensation saying he was unfairly fired. He's also apparently trying to get compensation for an on the job injury. A piece of work this guy seems to be.

I find it interesting that you would think a veteran who has given at least 4 years service to his country is lying about the mistreatment of the flag. Considering he posted corroborating photos on facebook, you seem to be saying he crumpled up the flag himself and placed it in a couple different locations.
Why would you believe this vet is lying? The school did not even deny the flag was mistreated. It has only claimed that he wasn't fired for his facebook posts.

I think you owe the man an apology, don't you?

I find it interesting that you would think just because someone is a veteran that his/her veracity is unquestionable, that someone who is a veteran can be completely trusted, counted on, honest, industrious, good hearted, etc. Veterans are just like everyone else: they come in a multitude of different packages as far as character. This guy could be a lazy, no good son of a bitch for all you or anyone else knows, who just happened to sign up for the military because he couldn't get any other job, put in the minimum effort during his time and left because it was too hard or he was afraid of being killed or wounded in action. You have no idea at all about this guy except for the row he has created over this flag thing. If he had the opportunity and wherewithal to photograph the crumpled flag, why didn't he just fold it up himself? Would you have just stood by and left the flag in a mess instead of folding it up yourself? I wouldn't have. I would have put it in proper order.

Good points. It's possible the guy has anger issues or an entitlement mentality.

Would he be a good candidate for paling around with at a gun range? You just never know.

 

[Uncensored2008]

There is only one issue.

Probation period.

I'm in the Peoples Republic.

Here, the concept of a "probationary period" is a myth. Once a person is hired, they are hired.

I suspect this is the case in much of the nation.

 

[Dubya]

I find it interesting that you would think a veteran who has given at least 4 years service to his country is lying about the mistreatment of the flag. Considering he posted corroborating photos on facebook, you seem to be saying he crumpled up the flag himself and placed it in a couple different locations.
Why would you believe this vet is lying? The school did not even deny the flag was mistreated. It has only claimed that he wasn't fired for his facebook posts.

I think you owe the man an apology, don't you?

I find it interesting that you would think just because someone is a veteran that his/her veracity is unquestionable, that someone who is a veteran can be completely trusted, counted on, honest, industrious, good hearted, etc. Veterans are just like everyone else: they come in a multitude of different packages as far as character. This guy could be a lazy, no good son of a bitch for all you or anyone else knows, who just happened to sign up for the military because he couldn't get any other job, put in the minimum effort during his time and left because it was too hard or he was afraid of being killed or wounded in action. You have no idea at all about this guy except for the row he has created over this flag thing. If he had the opportunity and wherewithal to photograph the crumpled flag, why didn't he just fold it up himself? Would you have just stood by and left the flag in a mess instead of folding it up yourself? I wouldn't have. I would have put it in proper order.

Good points. It's possible the guy has anger issues or an entitlement mentality.

Would he be a good candidate for paling around with at a gun range? You just never know.

It doesn't please me that some veteran lost his job, even if he was what we used to call a runway sweeper. The fact is he served this country and I give him credit for that. The fact also is these are our schools and being a veteran doesn't earn you the right to be around our children. Following the Vietnam War, we had many messed up vets that I wouldn't want around my children. If that sounds ungrateful, it isn't, because I also wouldn't want them around other people's children, including other veterans.

The Principals in our schools spend large amounts of their time dealing with people's behavior. If this guy can't deal with someone crumbling a flag in a better matter than he did then what's going to happen in future years of him being a janitor in a school? The I had friends die over there reasoning to justify his behavior in dealing with this doesn't cut it in my book. This janitor had options that were less comfrontational and didn't use them. I don't even think he considered them.

We are going to have another generation of veterans suffering from PTSD, involving experiences worse than this Air Force veteran would have experienced. I think the country is going to go through a period of hightened concern about the quality of the person we allow to be around our children in our schools. It's up to the individual who is around our children to cut the mustard and prove themselves.

 

[Noomi]

Its a god damned scrap of material. Who gives a shit. Bloody things were probably made in China anyway, like everything else.

 

[Bigfoot]

Its a god damned scrap of material. Who gives a shit. Bloody things were probably made in China anyway, like everything else.

Trolling, trolling, trolling..

 

[anotherlife]

I hope they win a nice big fat chunk of money and the School Superintendent is removed from office as soon as possible.

A Fort Pierre man who said he was fired from a school district after posting photos of a crumpled U.S. flag on Facebook has obtained legal counsel to evaluate his options, and his lawyer said cooler heads can prevail in the matter.

Cesar Zakahi of Fort Pierre told several local media outlets that he posted the photos over the weekend to draw attention to the fact that a co-worker was disrespecting the American flag. Zakahi said the Stanley County School District fired him on Monday for posting the photos.


Superintendent Don Hotalling confirmed Zakahi no longer works for the Stanley County School District, but he said it wasn’t because of the photos. He said he couldn’t comment further because it’s a personnel issue.


Zakahi, who is an Air Force veteran, claims a coworker would crumple up the American and South Dakota flags and put them on a boiler after taking them down from an outside pole. Joel Arends, a Sioux Falls lawyer, has been hired to represent Zakahi in the matter, and said Zakahi has, over the last month or so, reported to his immediate supervisor and to Hotalling that the flag was being mishandled.


He said Zakahi felt his complaint wasn’t being addressed, and the flag continued to be mishandled, sometimes being crumpled up on a boiler, other times being crumpled up next to toilet bowl cleaner. Arends said Zakahi posted the photos online only after the other worker didn’t change the way she handled the flag.


Arends said on Monday that Zakahi was called into the superintendent’s office, along with his immediate supervisor, and the superintendent told him the photos embarrassed him and that he was out of bounds for posting the photos, so he was fired. Prior to the firing, Zakahi also filed an injury report about an injured knee he received while performing janitorial duties at the school, Arends said.


Zakahi was still within his 90-day probation period when he was terminated.

Very interesting. The US flag stands for many good things and achievements plus the state flag also is an important symbol of identity and belonging. But ... why didn't this janitor pick those flags up and put them at a place he would deem suitably safe? I suspect he was fired for being antisocial with her and this is his comeback. I guess the flags also stand for the American liberty that they can be used for such legal games. With that said, American flags should never be abused, the American flags are amongst the VERY few active flags of the world that have not yet been tainted and hijacked by wiseguys yet.

 

[Noomi]

Its a god damned scrap of material. Who gives a shit. Bloody things were probably made in China anyway, like everything else.

Trolling, trolling, trolling..

Not trolling, just stating a fact. Its a piece of material, nothing more.

 

[squeeze berry]

the superintendent in the school district here has zero tolerance for face book stupidity.

Just don't have a FB page if you work for public school. Simple, really.

 

[rightwinger]

the superintendent in the school district here has zero tolerance for face book stupidity.

Just don't have a FB page if you work for public school. Simple, really.

Don't have a Facebook page if you work anywhere

More likely than not, your employer is going to check it out and if you have photos of your last drunken rampage or your anarchist opinions you could be negatively impacted