Shut Up, Don't Think, Don't
Learn From Others or You're Fired
By Starr Kelso
OpEdNews.Com
Michael
Edmondson worked for the same company in the tiny one company town of
Elk City, Idaho for 22 years. He
worked his way up from laborer to supervisor.
Along the way he lost his left thumb in a work accident and
later injured his lungs in a fire at work. On his last work evaluation
he received all "very good" marks from his plant manager.
He was awarded Idaho's first Gem Citizen Award for his
community involvement in public projects.
By all accounts he was an exemplary employee who gave 200% to
"his" company.
A public
meeting was posted on the company bulletin board encouraging all to
attend a meeting to "Save Elk City."
He went to the meeting. He
did not speak up at the meeting or express any opinions to fellow
employees at work or otherwise on the issues discussed.
Within
days of Michael's attending the meeting a decision to fire him was
made by the company's general manager.
He ordered the plant manager to fire him.
This manager testified he did not know why he was ordered to
fire Michael, but he followed his orders.
The general manager testified that he fired Michael for
attending the public meeting and, when he made the decision, he was
not aware of his "very good" work evaluation.
The Idaho
Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling that the First
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not establish a "public
policy" supporting free speech/free association.
Thus under Idaho's "at-will" doctrine where an employee
can be fired at any time for any reason so long as it doesn't
violate "public policy," the Idaho Court held that the firing was
fine because free speech/free association is not a public policy of
Idaho, and apparently not any state other than Montana.
The lone
dissent on Idaho's Court warned that "allowing employers to
terminate employment based on an individual's association and speech
regarding public issues . . .invites employers to squelch the
association, speech and debate so necessary to our system of
government." As
Idaho's largest daily paper, The Idaho Statesman, concisely
stated in its editorial, "Supreme Court speaks: Shut up and get to
work."
The Idaho
Court, during questioning by one of the members of the majority
decision, clarified the extent of the ruling.
He asked employer's counsel whether Michael could be legally
fired just for marrying a woman of color.
The answer was yes!
Don't
think for a moment that Idaho is alone and you are immune.
All states, except Montana, recognize the "at-will"
employment common law rule. The
next time you go to an environmental meeting, a forest users group
meeting, or even marry a person of another race, creed or color,
remember that you can legally be fired from your job - even if you are
an exemplary employee. To
be protected you need to get permission from your employer, in
writing, before doing anything away from work, even attending a 4th
of July parade.
During
World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke of the most fundamental
freedom held by U.S. citizens - Free Speech - anyone and everyone can
have a voice in America - President Bush in response to protesters
recently reaffirmed the protestors' fundamental right to voice their
opinions. We cannot let
this right be taken away.
Mr.
Edmondson needs help. His
tragic story has been aired nationwide on CNN's Newsnight
with Aaron Brown and Thom Hartman's nationally syndicated talk show.
He needs your help, financially, in order to prepare and file
the necessary documents so that he can place this issue before our
U.S. Supreme Court. Time
is short - less than 30 days. For
a free America - help is needed now.
Send Contributions to:
Starr Kelso (Mike Edmondson Fund)
Employment Law Center
P.O. Box 1312
1621 N. 3rd Street
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83816-1312
Contact Information:
Starr Kelso
Telephone: (208) 765-3260
Fax:
(208) 664-6261
Bio:
Starr Kelso, formerly a hard rock gypo miner, forest fire
fighter, H.S. teacher/coach and deputy sheriff is now a licensed
attorney in Idaho, Montana, and Colorado where he has actively practiced
for over 20 years. He was a special deputy attorney general for a decade
until after discovering illegal actions of a quasi public entity he
refused the demand of the then Attorney General to stop the
investigation. He is a strong advocate of lawyer and judicial
accountability. His practice for the past decade has focused on
corporate and governmental abuses of a wide nature. His other recent
cases involve a class action against an insurance company for failing to
return over 200 million premium dollars to policyholders, challenging
the legality of a significant Idaho primary election in Idaho some five
months before the Florida debacle,challenging the constitutional ability
of governmental entities to enter into long term mulit-million dollar
debt without voter approval, and in initiating the class action in Idaho
against a national bank in Idaho for selling it's customer's private
information without their knowledge. The Edmondson case is one of the
more recent cases undertaken by Starr in this vein of individual rights
litigation.
