I am a retired military veteran. Recently, I was terminated from my job because my employer did not agree with my liberal political views that were published in the Augusta Chronicle newspaper. However, prior to my articles appearing in the newspaper, I was considered a top performer on the job. On July 12, 2011, I received an excellent rating on my annual employee performance evaluation.
On Sunday, July 24, 2011, my first letter to the editor appeared in the Augusta Chronicle newspaper. The title was, Rich people should pay more taxes. On Monday, July 25, 2011, the company owner confronted me about the article. The next day, Tuesday, July 26, 2011, I was suspended for 3 days without pay for alledgedly committing a shipping error. However, I was not in charge of the shipment. The person who wrote my performance evaluation was in charge of the shipment. I was his assistant. He was ultimately responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the shipment. Even so, he received no disciplinary action.
On Saturday, September 24, 2011, my second letter to the editor appeared in the Augusta Chronicle newspaper. The title was, Wrong is wrong – Fred Russell must go. (Russell is the Augusta City Administrator who gave $350,000 in pay raises to certain city employees while teachers and other city employees were being furloughed). On September 29, 2011, I was terminated for alledgedly committing another shipping error. Again, no action was taken against the person who was responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the shipment.
I honorably served my country to protect freedom of speech and did not deserve to be mistreated in this way. I publicly shared my views by exercising my freedom of speech And, because my views were not agreeable to my employer, I was terminated. Without a doubt, my termination was meant to punish me and instill fear in any employee who dared to voice an opinion which was not agreeable to the company owner.