St. Louis CrossFit trainer fired after alleged photo of him at 'Unite the Right' rally goes viral

People being fired now for practicing their 1st Amendment rights.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/3...hoto-him-at-unite-right-rally-goes-viral.html

The First Amendment protects government criminalizing most forms of speech.

Those protections do not carry over into many workplaces. Private employers routinely disqualify or penalize (suspensions) employment based on individual personal expression outside the workplace.


I bet there are a list of personal expressions that if displayed publicly would put your own employment at legal risk.

St. Louis CrossFit trainer fired after alleged photo of him at 'Unite the Right' rally goes viral.






A St. Louis athletic trainer was reportedly fired after he was identified in a viral photo from this month's “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.
Bobby Ritter, who was a CrossFit trainer at Lab Gym, was spotted by the gym’s clients after a photo appearing to show him was featured in a Vox article titled “Unite the Right, the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, explained,” The Riverfront Times reported.
The photo showed a man wearing a white gas mask, making it hard to see the person’s face.
Though the article does not name Ritter, readers pointed out the man’s distinct arm tattoo of a black animal appears to be similar to the one the trainer has. The article was shared on social media by the gym’s members and staff.
Justin Thacker, the owner of the gym, informed clients in an email that Ritter no longer worked at the company.
The photo showed a man wearing a white gas mask, making it hard to see the person’s face.
Though the article does not name Ritter, readers pointed out the man’s distinct arm tattoo of a black animal appears to be similar to the one the trainer has. The article was shared on social media by the gym’s members and staff.
Justin Thacker, the owner of the gym, informed clients in an email that Ritter no longer worked at the company.
"After careful consideration, the Lab Gym has severed working relations with Bobby Ritter," Thacker said. "There has been questions, concerns, and some evidence to part ways based on differences concerning important core principles that are innate to the Lab Gym and its mission."
Ritter taught a CrossFit class at the gym but was not a registered trainer, according to The Riverfront Times.
A number of people have been identified and suffered repercussions because they attended the rally.
Cole White, who was identified from the march on the University of Virginia’s campus on Aug. 11 was fired from his job at a restaurant, according to the Washington Post.
Nigel Krofta was photographed by The New York Times standing near Alex Fields Jr., the man accused of driving his car into a crowd, killing Heather Heyer, 32. Krofta later lost his job as a welder, according to The Post and Courier.

Sgt Lanquel said:

The First Amendment protects government criminalizing most forms of speech.

Those protections do not carry over into many workplaces. Private employers routinely disqualify or penalize (suspensions) employment based on individual personal expression outside the workplace.


I bet there are a list of personal expressions that if displayed publicly would put your own employment at legal risk.

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I work for the U.S. Government and am subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This guy is not. He is spotted in a photo taken at a rally and his employment says that photo is a problem for him to be a physical fitness trainer. Not remotely the same thing.

what is the sign he is making with his hands? 666? ok? something else?

Some one needs an education on how the free market works. You don't have a right to a job. He can say what ever he wants though, it's his right. I could tell my boss to fuck off, and the government isn't going to put me in jail for that.

while i understand the issue at hand, i certainly don't feel sorry for him.

halekulani said:

while i understand the issue at hand, i certainly don't feel sorry for him.

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I'm the opposite, I feel bad for anyone that loses their job, the issue at hand though, is this is a Republic, you don't have a right to job here. People that want a right to a job should move to North Korea, or other commie nations. People get fired everyday for far less.

Mr_Mark said:

what is the sign he is making with his hands? 666? ok? something else?

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He made a three point basket

Enfuego said:

I work for the U.S. Government and am subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This guy is not. He is spotted in a photo taken at a rally and his employment says that photo is a problem for him to be a physical fitness trainer. Not remotely the same thing.

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I agree your obstacles to free speech are more significant than this guy's.

He still had at least a few and one of them - his employer's disapproval of his off-work associations - came into play here.

Probably a good idea for someone who endorses White Nationalism to choose a like-minded employer to create better job security

RenoChazz said:

Some one needs an education on how the free market works. You don't have a right to a job. He can say what ever he wants though, it's his right. I could tell my boss to fuck off, and the government isn't going to put me in jail for that.

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I don't think anyone is saying he's entitled to have a job in America.

Sgt Lanquel said:

I agree your obstacles to free speech are more significant than this guy's.

He still had at least a few and one of them - his employer's disapproval of his off-work associations - came into play here.

Probably a good idea for someone who endorses White Nationalism to choose a like-minded employer to create better job security

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I lived in N.C. once and my neighbor was a huge racist. He threw the "N" word around all the time and we obviously didn't share the same opinion when it came to race relations in America. That said, he was a decent, hard working guy with a nice family and even invited us out for a weekend on his boat near the beach.

Should I be fired from my job because I spoke to my neighbor on a frequent basis?

Enfuego said:

I lived in N.C. once and my neighbor was a huge racist. He threw the "N" word around all the time and we obviously didn't share the same opinion when it came to race relations in America. That said, he was a decent, hard working guy with a nice family and even invited us out for a weekend on his boat near the beach.

Should I be fired from my job because I spoke to my neighbor on a frequent basis?

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Well obviously not from you USAF job.

As for hypothetical where you are working for non -military employer, I don't guess there is a "should". Your scenario can only be answered by said hypothetical employer.

It would appear if your prospective employer is Lab Gym you might be at risk.

Enfuego said:

I lived in N.C. once and my neighbor was a huge racist. He threw the "N" word around all the time and we obviously didn't share the same opinion when it came to race relations in America. That said, he was a decent, hard working guy with a nice family and even invited us out for a weekend on his boat near the beach.

Should I be fired from my job because I spoke to my neighbor on a frequent basis?

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Hard working? Maybe.

Decent? Being a "huge racist" and "throwing the N word around all the time" would disqualify this guy from being decent. I hope you turned down the weekend boat holiday.

Enfuego said:

I don't think anyone is saying he's entitled to have a job in America.

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What are we saying then? He's entitled to his job once he has it? Employers can hire and fire for any reason, that's not covered by discriminations laws. You can be fired for being KKK, that's why they used to wear masks. Unless he's under a contract, in which case he can sue if he wants... but even then there is language in most contracts when it comes to doing things that hurt the brand. What are we discussing here? Even President Trump does't want to be associated with this, why do you think Bannon got fired?

of course an employer can let someone go cause of this....just like the NFL can choose not to employ Kap. Wonder if we will see Michael Bennett, Marshawn Lynch and the protesters back this guy up?

Mr_Mark said:

what is the sign he is making with his hands? 666? ok? something else?

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PoundFoolish said:

of course an employer can let someone go cause of this....just like the NFL can choose not to employ Kap. Wonder if we will see Michael Bennett, Marshawn Lynch and the protesters back this guy up?

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Exactly! Enfuego was all ok with that, but now has sympathy for the same thing happening to a NAZI. Neither of them have a right to a job.

RenoChazz said:

What are we saying then? He's entitled to his job once he has it? Employers can hire and fire for any reason, that's not covered by discriminations laws. You can be fired for being KKK, that's why they used to wear masks. Unless he's under a contract, in which case he can sue if he wants... but even then there is language in most contracts when it comes to doing things that hurt the brand. What are we discussing here? Even President Trump does't want to be associated with this, why do you think Bannon got fired?

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All I'm saying is we enter a dangerous time when a man can be fired from a job based on the location where a photo was taken. We have no idea what that guys is doing there. Maybe he's documenting the event via photo/video. Maybe he just went there to see what was going on. I don't know.

We can't look at a still photo and fire a guy for association without knowing the facts.

RenoChazz said:

Exactly! Enfuego was all ok with that, but now has sympathy for the same thing happening to a NAZI. Neither of them have a right to a job.

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Two different situations and I don't think Kaep shouldn't have a job BTW. Guy is fired from his gym training job based on a still photo taken by the media. Kaep's situation is night and day different. Not on the same planet.