I Was Fired Today, For My Bumperstickers!!!

Sometimes people spend too much time between the keyboard and the seat, and this habit consistently removes much of what we used to call the stable "social meter."

What I have noticed more and more in our so-called civilized society, is a growing lack of social graces, fewer manners, and general inappropriateness among our species.

"Lack of good judgement" for that new work situation, is what I would call it.
An outsider (those who hired you) who had just met you (a stranger) had reason to believe your judgement might definitely be off kilter if you did not "get it". (Danger, Will Robinson!)

Despite the tender situation that your free speech rights might have been violated, you were on their property, with their sacred children. The joke (at what could be viewed at the expense of the kids) hit too close to home, my friend, and the inability for them to understand your joke is very reasonable.

Manners come with good breeding. Be smarter next time.

reply to post by hotbakedtater

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While I agree that "daycares and bumper stickers about pedophiles don't mix...." we cannot and should not be allowed to pick and choose the parts of our constitution that we want to abide by...and in which locations our civil liberties can be infiltrated. Free speech has to mean FREE SPEECH. The bumper sticker was by no means associating you with pedophiles...and if people look at that and think otherwise, then they obviously are too ignorant to be teaching our children in the first place. That said, they will most likely just have to say that you were in a trial period of hire, and it will not be worth your time (or money) to pursue it any further. However, I assure you that in this country, a religious fanatic that has a Jesus fish on their bumper that offends a Muslim business owner for which they work, and is in turn fired for it - would have the privilege of taking it all the way to the supreme court.

Have you sued the other two employers that fired you?

This is a daycare not a Starbucks.

reply to post by kosmicjack


Free speech? Sheesh, when will people learn that the First Amendment applies to GOVERNMENT action and STATE ACTORS (i.e., those who work on behalf of the government), NOT private businesses. Wow, just wow.

PS If I ran a daycare center and saw someone pull up with a car that had the word "pedophile" on it in ANY context, that person would be instantly fired for rank stupidity if nothing else.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


I'm a 52 year old conservative republican and read about your issue on Free Republic. I'm not going to slam you but I just want to say that 'people' can't violate your civil rights. Only an officer of the government can do that. A cop didn't make you cover or remove the bumper sticker. The 1st Amendment protects you from government persecution.

Secondly, I have learned, painfully, that there can be repercussions to letting my personal views get out there. I don't have bumper stickers on my car. I work for a state government agency and I don't want to know the politics of the people I work with and I don't want them to know mine. Although I have friends at work I'm not trying to convert anybody or argue politics with people at work. This is where I get my paycheck.

Your situation reminds me of a child touching a stove for the first time. There isn't any unconditional acceptance out there. Two things are generally necessary to succeed at work. You have to pull your weight and conform to the group norms. You can get by if you do one or the other really well but if you don't do either you are toast. You never had a chance to prove that you were an asset before the "group norm" thing kicked in.

Sorry you lost your job. I've lost a couple and it hurts.

The Constitution as it is written say, "Congress shall make no law abriging the freedom of speech". It says NOTHING about private businesses, who are free to terminate employees at will, especially those who have bumper stickers, t-shirts, tattos, etc, that may offend their customers.As a mother, I would have serious reservations about any daycare that had an employee who had that bumper sticker on their car. You have free speech, but you have to take full responsibility for what you say, as well. If you don't like it, you are free to start your own business.

Curious...if you were the daycare owner and someone had a bumper sticker denigrating liberals and gays, equating them to pedophiles, what would you do?

Originally posted by RUFFREADY
I would call "Morgan & Morgan", and see if they'll take the case (they will send a investigater to your home for a quick interview and tell you what to expect. Use the law.

Use the law?

I'm all for free speech, but I'm also for 'of the people, by the people and for the people' and I, for one, would find that extremely offensive. If my child was at that facility, and I knew that bumpersticker was on the car of an employee, I'd talk to the owner and if it weren't removed, then my child would be.

Shame on you if you even think about suing!!!

Go ask a victim of child abuse what their opinion is... joke or not, those victims need not be reminded of their horrific experience.

reply to post by optimistic skeptic


The OP still has her free speech, and she never lost her ability of free speech. Freedom of speech, just means the government cannot ban you or jail you for speaking your mind.

We all speak freely here at ATS up until we hit the rules or guidelines of what has been decided by the owners to be inappropriate for their site.

If I owned this website I have the freedom to ban you from speaking here as this is a privately owned site - and although I give you the freedom of speak as you like, it has to fall within what I have decided is appropriate for the image I want my site to represent and the types of people I want to attract.

Like ATS, the Day Care was a private facility and they can hire & fire anyone that they believe doesn't represent the image they want to portray to their clients, customers, & advertisers. There is NO FREE SPEECH in a private business, only the speech that business owner has decided is appropriate for his/her business.

If you don't like it we are all free to create our own websites with our own guidelines and we're free to open up a day care.

[edit on 4-6-2008 by verylowfrequency]

reply to post by whitesatan


The way i've always understood freedom of speech, was that its free until you tread on the rights of others.

Some people take the idea of 'freedom of speech' too far im afraid.

*IE: Screaming 'bomb' on a plane*
You dont have the 'right' to do that because it infringes on your fellow passengers 'right' to not be panicked or mucked with

Atleast, thats how i have always thought of it.

Let's not forget the OP used her free speech here to get our opinions to gauge how the opinions might go if she takes legal action.

Not only that she has used her free Speech to spread her story to the local media in her area as a means to gain support for her cause as well as a means to get revenge or punish them by publishing the name of the Company along with her complaint.


[edit on 4-6-2008 by verylowfrequency]

reply to post by verylowfrequency


Also dont forget that free speech only goes so far

im not against the O.P. I think its dispicable the way some companies treat their employees, but i also think that (while im not against the OP) sometimes things like this go a little far (you cant tell me you dont see how that bumpersticker wouldtn upset a bunch of parents)

I mean...really.
As far as termination....i dunno. Obviously --- it happened.

Lawyer? Nothing you can do will prove it. They will simply deny it, provide some made up sheet that is in the form of a disciplinary write-up and say you were let go *cough* at-will *cough*

you can try to persue it in the public eye, but im telling you - the "public eye" is full of political correctness. They're going to listen to your story and say "well....shouldnt have had that bumper sticker"

I know ti sucks, and i hate it that its this way - but ... it is...this way im afraid

reply to post by verylowfrequency


Wow...I love how everyone suddenly become experts on government, the constitution and where private business fall into those things.

That said, I used to own a daycare (before I went to college and got two master's degrees - one in business) and the facility most likely gets assistance from the government to support its children with single parents living at or below a certain economic line. (Most child care facilities do these days.) Those businesses are required to abide by the government standards for employment and termination, as if they were not a private business at all (i.e. wrongful termination, discrimination, affirmative action, etc) If they do not accept government assistance, then I have no point here - and you are correct.

In addition, the OP's car is her private property and not that of the daycare proprietors. She should have at least been offered an alternative (removing the sticker, covering it with something else, etc) before being terminated. That fact alone is indicative of discrimination in a political sense.

Also, if someone looked at that bumper sticker and thought, "That person must be a pedophile - or gay!," then he or she needs to get an education and stop having children in the process of working to overcome his or her ignorance.

Well I don't know about you, but if I went to drop my kid off at daycare and I seen a bumper sticker on one of the staffs car that said, "Gay old pedophile," I would probably not want my kid left alone there. I would say that the boss was right and smart to fire you because not only is it bad for business, but for someone to have a bumper sticker like that, who works at a daycare center, exhibits extremely poor judgment making skills. It's funny to me that you are sitting there in disbelief over this. That would be like me going to work at the hospital with a shirt on that says, "I abuse prescription pills and rape un-conscience women", and sitting there wondering why they let me go.
# it. Tomorrow when I go to volunteer at the soup kitchen, I'm gonna wear my, "I give homeless children food and blow for sexual favors"' shirt.

Actually, what were you thinking when you parked your car at a day care center with that sticker on it?

Day care centers and jokes about pedophilia don't mix.

Chalk it up as a lesson learned and go find a job some place else.

Couldn't have put it any better than this. Bravo!
Believe me, if I was dropping kids off for day care and a staff member had that bumper sticker... I'd do all I could to make it that staff members last day too.
Next time a little forethought might go a long way.