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My friend lost his job. Because he was teh gay.

techs

techs

Lifer
This is not a parody thread.

I got a call from an old friend looking for some work. He was a pretty good computer tech until he became a certified Cisco network engineer.
About a year and a half ago he took a job in Virginia for a computer services company. He did a year probationary period and got a great evaluation and was given the job permanently.

One thing the company didn't ask him about was if he was gay. Now, this is a guy who is farthest from the stereotypical gay man as you could get. In fact, I was one of the few people who knew he was gay, since when he worked for me we were working on his computer and something was there that indicated it. I never even thought to ask him about it, since I didn't care.

Well, in Virginia his rent was high, and he had two bedrooms. So he rented the other room to a gay man. Seems one of his co workers knew the other guy and knew he was gay. And the co-worker "reported" him to management since they figured if the roomate was gay, so was he. They called him in and asked if he was gay. He told them it was none of their business. At which point they fired him. Seems in Virginia you can fire an employee for being gay. Since he knew that if he were to fight the dismissal he would have to give testimony as to his sexuality, i.e. deny he was gay, when it would be a lie, he took the dismissal.

wtf? I can't believe this shit happens anymore.
 
Last edited:
techs said:
This is not a parody thread.

I got a call from an old friend looking for some work. He was a pretty good computer tech until he became a certified Cisco network engineer.
About a year and a half ago he took a job in Virginia for a computer services company. He did a year probationary period and got a great evaluation and was given the job permanently.

One thing the company didn't ask him about was if he was gay. Now, this is a guy who is farthest from the stereotypical gay man as you could get. In fact, I was one of the few people who knew he was gay, since when he worked for me we were working on his computer and something was there that indicated it. I never even thought to ask him about it, since I didn't care.

Well, in Virginia his rent was high, and he had a two bedrooms. So he rented the other room to a gay man. Seems one of his co workers knew the other guy and knew he was gay. And the co-worker "reported" him to management since they figured if the roomate was gay, so was he. They called him in and asked if he was gay. He told them it was none of their business. At which point they fired him. Seems in Virginia you can fire an employee for being gay. Since he knew that if he were to fight the dismissal he would have to give testimony as to his sexuality, i.e. deny he was gay, when it would be a lie, he took the dismissal.

wtf? I can't believe this shit happens anymore.
Click to expand...

Wow that sucks. It is 2010 for crying out loud. I can't believe that kind of stuff still happens too. So sick and tried of it. Don't care either way what someone is. If people think being gay is strange just go to France or Sweden. There are so messed up laws there. You all can find them yourself. I am not telling you what they are because they are not important to this topic.
 
Fuck, that seems like wrongful termination if I ever heard of it. I'd advise him to seek legal counsel and sue the company.
 
Talk about taking it up the ass.


Poor fellow, I'd definitely seek some form of legal counsel.
 
Isnt sexual orientation a federally protected status? He should have good grounds for wrongful termination.
 
tontod said:
Isnt sexual orientation a federally protected status? He should have good grounds for wrongful termination.
Click to expand...

JulesMaximus said:
Fuck, that seems like wrongful termination if I ever heard of it. I'd advise him to seek legal counsel and sue the company.
Click to expand...
That's just it. In Virginia being gay is cause for dismissal if your employer so desires.
Apparently there is also the fact that all his particular clients were Virginia based companies.
 
What is the company so I know to never do business with them?

edit: oh and have your friend contact CNN and some other publications. I'm sure they would eat this story up.
 
There are no federal laws protecting sexual orientation. The classes protected are race, gender, religion, national origin and color. A lot of state do have such laws but most in the South do not.

Edit: oops, forgot disability.
 
LikeLinus said:
Wow, I did a google search for this and he's not joking. Viriginia can fire a person for being gay! Not only that, but check this out!

http://themoderatevoice.com/63895/virginias-disgrace-banning-gays-from-state-jobs/

How they hell is that legal over federal laws protecting such discrimination???
Click to expand...

Yeah, like I said. Not a parody thread.
A real story. And pretty sad.

The only thing the guy could have made a case on, according to his lawyer, that they didn't list not being gay as a critieria in the job description, nor in any type of company manual.
 
sgaliger said:
There are no federal laws protecting sexual orientation. The classes protected are race, gender, religion, national origin and color. A lot of state do have such laws but most in the South do not.

Edit: oops, forgot disability.
Click to expand...

Twenty states and the District of Columbia have laws that currently prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in private employment: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. Some of these states also specifically prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. (In addition, a handful of states have laws prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in public workplaces only.)


Interesting.
 
Was he at least warned about it first? Aka, given a chance to change his manners? It does seem wrong to just fire right on the spot.

There was a guy that used to work for my company before my time and he was gay. He would buy flowers to other guys and stuff, apparently he was quite creepy, so they fired him for being a distraction, but he totally asked for it.
 
RedSquirrel said:
Was he at least warned about it first? Aka, given a chance to change his manners? It does seem wrong to just fire right on the spot.

There was a guy that used to work for my company before my time and he was gay. He would buy flowers to other guys and stuff, apparently he was quite creepy, so they fired him for being a distraction, but he totally asked for it.
Click to expand...

No, he says they just called him into the office and said that the company doesn't employ gays. Then they asked him if he was gay.
When he refused to answer, they told him resign or be fired.
I wonder if they would claim they fired him not because he was gay, but because he didn't answer the question. I would have to believe since they started out by telling him the company doesn't employ gays, that is not the case.
 
tontod said:
Isnt sexual orientation a federally protected status? He should have good grounds for wrongful termination.
Click to expand...

It is. He can sue. And he can sue for a lot (lost wages, front pay in some states, etc.). Have him talk to a lawyer. Have him file a wrongful termination claim with the state EEOC (equal employment opportunity commission).
I used to underwrite employment practices (the insurance that would kick in to cover this type of lawsuit) so I know what I am talking about.
 
Uppsala9496 said:
It is. He can sue. And he can sue for a lot (lost wages, front pay in some states, etc.). Have him talk to a lawyer. Have him file a wrongful termination claim with the state EEOC (equal employment opportunity commission).
I used to underwrite employment practices (the insurance that would kick in to cover this type of lawsuit) so I know what I am talking about.
Click to expand...
If he's not protected under federal or state employment law, than what are his grounds to sue?
 
He should have taken the traditional sense of the word gay, and said no. If they asked again more specifically, he could "oh, I thought you were asking me if I were happy. Yea, I'm queer" :^D

Sucks about your friend. With the economy the way it is. It's definitely an employers market :^/
 
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