Getting fired for offensive bumper sticker

[dieblucasdie]

"Jesus Zerged My Cloudsong"

[DCDave]

"Jesus Zerged My Cloudsong"

So

Funny.

[coldforge]

[insert incredibly offensive and over-the-top antichristian black metal song title here]

[FreddyKnuckles]

Coldforge is so twee

[Bernard]

Either the company has the right to dictate what happens on their parking lot or they don't. I think they do, but I could be wrong. I don't think it matters what the sticker says. You'd have to check your local laws, but I think they're forbidden from firing/hiring on the basis of your religious beliefs, genders, age, ethnicity, etc., but I don't think that extends to your bumper stickers.

If they said "We think your bumper sticker is Un-Christian" it, tangentially, does. If they said "We think your bumper sticker is offensive" then it doesn't.

His religion requires him to have a bumper sticker? I think you're mixing up expression (of religion, or politics, or whatever) with religion itself.

[heather]

Coldforge is so twee

LOLZ times a million.

[jebreject]

[insert incredibly offensive and over-the-top antichristian black metal song title here]

Oh man, some of my friends had some pretty offensive shirts, complete with pictures of things like a nun getting fucked with a crucifix and slogans like FUCK ME JESUS

[jebreject]

There were some other really offensive ones too, but I can't recall

[Andrew_TSKS]

[insert incredibly offensive and over-the-top antichristian black metal song title here]

Oh man, some of my friends had some pretty offensive shirts, complete with pictures of things like a nun getting fucked with a crucifix and slogans like FUCK ME JESUS

ah, yes. marduk. that band rules.

then there's the one with the girl in the nun's habit and nothing else touching herself, and it says "vestal masturbation" under that picture. on the back of the shirt, it says "jesus is a cunt" in huge capital letters. rob deicide got in trouble for wearing that shirt on his college campus 10 years ago. that's a cradle of filth shirt, and they also have a design that includes the slogan "dead girls don't say no", which comes way too close to rape advocacy for me to be comfortable with it.

[basophil]

And there's always the classic Fuck The Skull Of Jesus.

[jebreject]

ah, yes. marduk. that band rules.

then there's the one with the girl in the nun's habit and nothing else touching herself, and it says "vestal masturbation" under that picture. on the back of the shirt, it says "jesus is a cunt" in huge capital letters. rob deicide got in trouble for wearing that shirt on his college campus 10 years ago. that's a cradle of filth shirt, and they also have a design that includes the slogan "dead girls don't say no", which comes way too close to rape advocacy for me to be comfortable with it.

Those are exactly the ones I was thinking of!

[SPACERACE]

what the hell did the sticker say?

if it's offensive, and you want to keep your job, cover it and deal with the fact that you work at a christian company.

if it's not that offensive and you don't really mind getting another job, write up some long essay on why they have their heads up their asses, and give it to them on your last day.

[lucky strike]

the sticker said, and i know this because i'm the offended guy who filed the complaint, "Save a horse! Ride a cowboy!"

[Maaik]

Save a Tree, Eat a Beaver.

[Bernard]

it's gotta be a darwin fish

[DCDave]

Either the company has the right to dictate what happens on their parking lot or they don't. I think they do, but I could be wrong. I don't think it matters what the sticker says. You'd have to check your local laws, but I think they're forbidden from firing/hiring on the basis of your religious beliefs, genders, age, ethnicity, etc., but I don't think that extends to your bumper stickers.

If they said "We think your bumper sticker is Un-Christian" it, tangentially, does. If they said "We think your bumper sticker is offensive" then it doesn't.

His religion requires him to have a bumper sticker? I think you're mixing up expression (of religion, or politics, or whatever) with religion itself.

If they cite his lack of Christianity as perceived through his bumper sticker, then it's the same as citing lack of Republicanism as seen through a bumper sticker.

[Bernard]

I believe they said the bumper sticker created a hostile work environment because it was offensive. If homeboy comes back and says his sticker said, "Dinosaurs are cool" or something wholly unrelated to Christianity or religion, I'm wrong, but things that mock or insult Christianity are offensive to Christians because of the mockery and the insults, not because of their non-Christianity.  

The problem with a guy with a "Dead Girls Don't Say No" bumper sticker is primarily that he's an asshole, and only secondarily that he's not a feminist.

[dieblucasdie]

I had to either remove or cover an offensive bumper sticker as people have complained and as there are many religious people working there. They said it contributes to a sexually hostile work environment.

So they cited

1)  It contributes to a sexually hostile work environment (so I'm guessing it's not just a Darwin fish)

2)  Co-workers have complained.

3)  Many religious people work there, and this bumper sticker is apparently offensive to religious people.

There's a fine difference between saying, "We're a Christian company and your bumper sticker offends us!" and saying, "Many of our employees are Christian and this bumper sticker offends them."  Either party asserting their legal rights in this case would require a lot of lawyering over something pretty stupid.  

Like I said, they're probably just trying to strongarm AZ, and don't actually want to follow through, and a well-written legalesque letter from him would probably put the fear of God in them, so to speak.  Me, I'd just remove the damn bumper sticker.  Either you're comfortable working for a heavily Christian company or not.  We do all sorts of annoying things for our employers.

[Bernard]

You know, that's another thing -- Christians tend to consider a lot of things to be "christian values" -- don't lie, don't steal, etc. that people who aren't religious at all may consider to be just obvious. Possibly the sticker is something that would offend people even if they weren't Christian, and these guys are making a big deal out of it bugging them, specifically, rather than being generally buggisome, just because they're used to seeing everything through the lens of Christianity?

[dieblucasdie]

Yeah, I have a feeling it's just something sexual, not something Xian-baiting.

[Maaik]

AZ's absence from this discussion is starting to bug me.  If he doesn't come back soon, I'm going to fire him.

[Andrew_TSKS]

AZ's absence from this discussion is starting to bug me.  If he doesn't come back soon, I'm going to fire him.

i think i ran him off. sorry about that.

[Maaik]

it's like you WANT to lose your job, so you can then complain about the type of people in the world who want to keep you from getting ahead in life, and blame everyone but yourself for your own misfortune. how about you suck it up and find a way to deal with it? fuck, man, is it so fucking hard to park in another place? is the bumper sticker worth the amount of income you'll lose if you get fired over it? i don't want to be a dick here, but i feel like you're creating the situation as it exists, and i for one won't have any sympathy for you if your attitude in this situation gets you fired. it's not fucking worth it.

These should totally be lyrics man.  It'll be the hardcore "Like A Rolling Stone."

[Andrew_TSKS]

wow, i really was harsh.

why am i such a bad, bad person? guh.

[Maaik]

Bah!  He came to us for our unbiased (and rather uninformed, as he won't reveal what the damn thing says) opinons, and that's what you gave him.  Bully for you.  Besides, he's gotten all sides now--"They don't have any right to bully you like that" v. "They're gonna do whatever they want" v. "Why ya bein' a dick?"