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Koran burner Derek Fenton booted from his job at NJ Transit

Renae

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The protester who burned pages from the Koran outside a planned mosque near Ground Zero has been fired from NJTransit, sources and authorities said Tuesday.

Derek Fenton's 11-year career at the agency came to an abrupt halt Monday after photographs of him ripping pages from the Muslim holy book and setting them ablaze appeared in newspapers.

Fenton, 39, of Bloomingdale, N.J., burned the book during a protest on the ninth anniversary of Sept. 11 outside Park51, the controversial mosque slated to be built near Ground Zero.

He was apparently inspired by Pastor Terry Jones, the Florida clergyman who threatened to burn the Koran that day but later changed his mind.

NJ Transit said Fenton was fired but wouldn't give specifics.

"Mr. Fenton's public actions violated New Jersey Transit's code of ethics," an agency statement said.



Read more: Koran burner Derek Fenton booted from his job at NJ Transit

I hope he sues the everlovin **** out them for this.
 
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He should. They are making a mockery of his right to free speech.
 
Good on NJTransit for being so-called 'spineless'!

Mr. Fenton's reckless behaviour will only encourage those poor, misunderstood Muslim radicals to mischief and make them play victim all the more!

If only those silly, non-liberal idiots would recognise that, we'd have a more logical world!




Exposing Islam.: 95,000 Muhammad 'Descendents' to Sue over Cartoons...

Hamas Bunny Threatens to Kill Danes over Muhammad Cartoons

Hamas Brainwash Kids With Cartoon Characters To Be Terrorist


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http://www.debatepolitics.com/gener...n-away-damning-government-research-paper.html

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I agree he was wronged but in a court case it will either depend on how good the employee hand book spelled out the rule under which he was fired or in whether he can convince a jury he was wronged.

I think he has a chance because the Country will for the most part think the first Amendment out weighs the Co. rules. Besides if it's like California and it doesn't require all 12 in the jury for a fining in a civil case. so he has a chance.

We're for the most part tired of the claims of Tolerance in favor of Muslims and to hell with Christians.
 
We're for the most part tired of the claims of Tolerance in favor of Muslims and to hell with Christians.



Even the likes of the Pope :

Pope to tell British MPs to show more respect for the rights of Christians - Worldnews.com

The Papal intervention in the question of rights for British Christians follows legal decisions which have seen nurses prevented from wearing crosses while on duty and forced Christian registrars to abandon their beliefs by presiding at same-sex civil partnership ceremonies.

No such handicaps for Muslims, though the burka has been questioned.
 
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Incredibly dumb move by NJ transit. Regardless of what their employee handbook says, this is pretty clearly protected speech.
 
He has a right to do this, but he's an idiot for doing so. It didn't accomplish anything and just makes people pissed off, and I'm not talking about just Muslims or terrorists or whoever, I'm talking about everyday people in general.

Heck just look how pissed off these Koran burning stories have people here on his forum, even though the act has no effect on anything.
 
Incredibly dumb move by NJ transit. Regardless of what their employee handbook says, this is pretty clearly protected speech.

|And he was free to say it. No government thugs came and stomped on him to prevent him from saying what he wanted. His employer on the other hand did not want the bad publicity of having him on the payroll
 
|And he was free to say it. No government thugs came and stomped on him to prevent him from saying what he wanted. His employer on the other hand did not want the bad publicity of having him on the payroll

I think the complaint comes from that he was employed by the government. Or am I wrong?
 
I think the complaint comes from that he was employed by the government. Or am I wrong?

It is a government run organization, but in who they hire or fire in such cases should be no different then if it was a private business
 
|And he was free to say it. No government thugs came and stomped on him to prevent him from saying what he wanted. His employer on the other hand did not want the bad publicity of having him on the payroll

If he worked for a private company, this wouldn't be a problem. However, this guy is a government employee, which means that the employer is bound by the First Amendment and cannot fire him for protected speech.
 
If he worked for a private company, this wouldn't be a problem. However, this guy is a government employee, which means that the employer is bound by the First Amendment and cannot fire him for protected speech.

A question then

If he spent his weekend dressed up in a neo nazi outfit saying Hitler didnt do a good enough job, he should not have lost his job at the Transit co
 
Sues them for what? Wrongful termination? That's laughable.

How about interfering his Constitutional RIGHT to FREE SPEECH.

Wrongful Termination would first be taken up by the State Labor Board only to get his job back, unless he wants to go directly to litigation.

One more thing. In a Civil case the plaintiff can win a case based on a preponderance of evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt does not apply.
 
A question then

If he spent his weekend dressed up in a neo nazi outfit saying Hitler didnt do a good enough job, he should not have lost his job at the Transit co

No.

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How about interfering his Constitutional RIGHT to FREE SPEECH.

Wrongful Termination would first be taken up by the State Labor Board only to get his job back, unless he wants to go directly to litigation.

One more thing. In a Civil case the plaintiff can win a case based on a preponderance of evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt does not apply.

He still has the right to free speech does he not. In fact he now has more time to practice it in full
 
He still has the right to free speech does he not. In fact he now has more time to practice it in full

But he was fired because he was practicing his free speech. Fired from a government job, which they shouldn't be able to do.
 
A question then

If he spent his weekend dressed up in a neo nazi outfit saying Hitler didnt do a good enough job, he should not have lost his job at the Transit co

Unless his off-duty speech is made pursuant to his official duties or otherwise interferes with the agency's ability to effectively provide services, he can say whatever the hell he wants.

Overview of the general concept: www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?59+Duke+L.+J.+1+pdf (pdf)

Discussion of this particular situation: The Volokh Conspiracy » New Jersey Public Transit Employee Fired for Blasphemy
 
He still has the right to free speech does he not. In fact he now has more time to practice it in full

That's not how free speech works. It's like saying that someone is free to criticize the government, but they'll just have to do it from a jail cell.

A right that is unduly burdened isn't a right at all.
 
But he was fired because he was practicing his free speech. Fired from a government job, which they shouldn't be able to do.

His job is to perform a service to the public, when you excersise your freedom of speech it does not mean you will not have any consequences from it. You can lose friends, business or your job. You will not be thrown in jail, be arrested, or have your property confiscated by the government because of it
 
His job is to perform a service to the public, when you excersise your freedom of speech it does not mean you will not have any consequences from it. You can lose friends, business or your job. You will not be thrown in jail, be arrested, or have your property confiscated by the government because of it

What RightinNYC said, an unduly burdened right isn't a right at all.
 
That's not how free speech works. It's like saying that someone is free to criticize the government, but they'll just have to do it from a jail cell.

A right that is unduly burdened isn't a right at all.

He was not thrown in jail now was he?

Freedom of speech does not prevent you from losing friends from being a moron, or having people boycott your business or stop your employer from deciding he/she does not want you working for them anymore

It means the government will not arrest you, fine you, or confiscate your property when you exercise your freedome of speech
 
He was not thrown in jail now was he?

Freedom of speech does not prevent you from losing friends from being a moron, or having people boycott your business or stop your employer from deciding he/she does not want you working for them anymore

It means the government will not arrest you, fine you, or confiscate your property when you exercise your freedome of speech

But the government fired him. Thats the issue.
 
He was not thrown in jail now was he?

Freedom of speech does not prevent you from losing friends from being a moron, or having people boycott your business or stop your employer from deciding he/she does not want you working for them anymore

It means the government will not arrest you, fine you, or confiscate your property when you exercise your freedome of speech

You're missing the point and misstating the law.

It is absolutely indisputable that the first amendment protects government employees from being fired for a wide swath of protected speech. This is long-settled. You can keep on arguing that because he's not being put in jail it's not punishment, but the courts have unanimously disagreed.

The only thing that's at issue here is whether or not this particular speech is protected. If you would read the links I provided above, I think you'd conclude that it's likely protected speech.
 
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