Cerberusgl

This was in the news today. https://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/4480849/detail.html Do you think it is fair? Dress codes are important but some go to far. I don't eat at Claim Jumpers anyways but I thought some of you might have some good feedback on this one.

Smaug

I'm skeptical. in my experience, situations like this are rarely as simple as this. I'd be willing to bet that this guy had more than a few other issues that led to his termination.

ckleps

Its a private company so obviously its within their legal rights. I think the question that is important is how did the man react when he was asked to remove the braclet, whether you agree or not with his right to wear it in the workplace shouldn't matter. If the man became threatening or beligerent when asked to remove it he deserved to be fired, regardless of whether or not we agree with the bracelet. What if it was a dirty undershirt instead of a bracelet and he threatened to punch the manager when asked to change. There is no way we can have any real opinion on this matter because we have no real knowledge of what occured. Its only a news story because it was the livestrong band and not some other dress code violation.

I agree with the previous poster, my job involves looking at situations where people think they were fired for their race or age or gender, or whatever, often as he mentioned multiple issues are in play

Patriot

Legal? Yes.

Ethical? Maybe not. Especially if they allow other workers to wear any type of jewelry. The bracelet does not have any level of distaste. Unless of course, it ends up in someones dinner.

If no one else is allowed to wear any kind of jewelry, then asking him to remove it for safety and cleanliness reasons, it is entirely acceptible.

lilHinault

Sounds like he's ready to pick up another job, and I can kinda see a rule against jewelry etc for bartenders, if there's a pattern of jewelry catching on bottles etc and causing more accidents and breakage.

Hopefully this leads to a better job for the guy, he may get offered one due to the publicity.

Sawtooth

I guess my question would be "what did he gain by sticking to his guns?". I realize he had lost members of his family to cancer (so have I) but refusing to conform to the dress code did little to remedy that situation. And his small donation to the foundation would not have been reduced had he taken it off for work.

A company has a right to enforce a dress code up to certain limits and has to anticipate the market's reaction to those decisions. This could be bad for business for claim jumper but I don't think they were out of line for letting him go; ignorant of the critical mass of yellow band wearers, perhaps.

Having spent years in restaurant jobs, I am pretty sure this situation falls into one of two categories:
1. The guy was a problem employee and this was the straw that broke the camel's back or an excuse to do what should have been done long ago (most managers would ignore such things).
2. He was the victim of an insecure or inexperienced manager who did not know how to pick his/her battles and told him to take it off one day, the employee refused, and the manager felt like he could not back down and lose face.

I think most of us are for the foundation and against cancer, but one should consider prioritizing the ability to earn income along with those ideals.

gattm99

This is just another example of EVIL corporate america thinking they can control our lives like slaves. Well I'm glad he told them to shove it.

oldskoolboarder

As a side note, have any of you eaten at Claim Jumpers? I went to the one in Phoenix and the patrons had to be some of the BIGGEST people I've EVER seen. Granted I'm jaded, coming from vain Silicon Valley, but man 'o man most of the customers were overweight. Not hard to fathom, consider that the food portions are enormous. I'd guess none of them were cyclists...

I agree, we're missing part of the story. Also, if he can't wear the bracelet, I'd assume all employees weren't allowed similar jewelry. That kind of dress code is up to the company's discretion.

Sawtooth

I have also eaten at the one in phoenix (the biggest meal I have ever ordered). We still laugh about how full we got while blowing that bonus check. I loved the food.

Smaug

You've GOT to be kidding me...

Why do you assume the employee is the one in the right? The article is somewhat thin on details and it's entirely possible that this guy was a bad employee who deserved to be fired. In fact, considering that most would see terminating a person for this to be an overreaction, it seems reasonable that there's more to this guys history than is contained in this article.

BTW, Corporations are not evil. Hitler, Hussein, Pol Pot... that's evil. All corporations do is provide jobs and drive the economy. Geesh...

Patriot

gattm99,

If owned a small pub, and had trouble with cleanliness and saftey issues, would I then be considered EVIL corporate America, because I as a small business owner wanted my workers to be clean and safe, thus providing better service to my customers?

I used to work in the food service industry for years, so yes it is entirely acceptible, and just plain common sense to require workers to remove ALL jewelry when working.

Bolo Grubb

There are alot of details of this story I am sure we are not getting. It is rare that anyone gets fired without going through several steps of documenting breach of policy & behavior.

jakemoffatt

Jeez its just a bracelet... take it off at work and put it on when you leave you numbskull.

If it was a medical bracelet or something necessary that would be different.

We all make choices that preclude us from certain opportunities. What if some guy tatooed his forehead with Pepsi and then applied for a job at Coke? Should he be able to sue for discrimination? Nuhuh.

It just doesn't make sense that everyone should be able to wear whatever they want and if thats not the case its discrimination. There is a time for a Lance bracelet and a time for no Lance bracelet.

Previously mentioned but the guy probably had other issues on top of this. I mean... if hes throwing a fit about something as trivial as a bracelet how is his attitude in other areas of work?

mrballistic

well... anyone expecting a bartender to be totally a 'by the book' sort of individual is just kidding themselves. if he wanted to be a corporate ******, he'd get a job with a suit. making your bar staff abide by specific draconian rules really just gets you people without personalities.

jim-bob

This is a TGI Friday's kind of place we're talking about, not the local dive. They're all about 'by the book' sort of stuff, with just enough enforced wackiness to make it feel fun to the average corporate overeater/drinker.

mrballistic

hrm... i guess that he couldn't chalk up his 'band as 'flair', then?

squeegy200

This story was dying for the "Flare" punchline.
Oh, you beat me to it!

Smaug

You DO want to express yourself, don't you?

Avalanche325

In case you didn't know, Claim Jumper is a restaraunt, not a wild Ft. Lauderdale spring break night club. Restaraunt bars are not usually looking for their bartenders to be Tom Cruise in Cocktail.

If this guy was any sort of a value to the company, he would not be fired for something that seems so trivial. If wearing a braclet is a safety or health code issue, then the employer has to take a "no exception" stance on the rule.

I don't think his publicity will be getting him any other job offers. Most bosses don't go near a verified trouble maker.

Here is what his real rights are. He has the right to abide by the dress code that his employers specify, or he has the right to get a different job. It sounds like he chose the second option.

Wheel Doctor

I agree, so often there is soooo much more to the story than is reported. Leaving stuff out to slant the story is quite common today in urinalism, opps! Journalism

cascade168

Yeh, that place had better not be taking away any red staplers from unpaid workers

Dchiefransom

It could also be that the bracelet is soft plastic, which health codes might not allow wearing because they don't have a hard surface that doesn't hold germs.

UmneyDurak

Yeah couldn't agree more. Reminds me of another story where a kid was arrested as a terrorist for writting a fictional story about attack on a school. The local news painted him as an innocent kid who didn't know any better. After I dug further what little information was available pointed out that the news report wasn't even close to the truth. Although the athorities might have overeacted and made a kid in to a terrorist, the kid wasn't exacly squeky clean himself.

Retro Grouch 

What does the actual rule that he violated say?
What is the reasoning behind the rule?
How consistently has the rule been enforced?

I like Lance Armstrong bracelets, but I wouldn't want to find one in my hamburger.

ZackJones

He probably wasn't wearing the minimum number of pieces.