Cafeteria Worker Fired After GOP Congressman Got Grilled -- Not Toasted -- Sandwich [View All]

By Betsy Rothstein
November 15, 2007

House Administration Committee Chairman Robert Brady (D-Pa.) is fuming after a cafeteria worker in the Capitol lost his job days after Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) left the establishment in a huff because his sandwich was grilled, not toasted.

Kennison Battle, better known as “Mohammed,” was fired this week following the Souder incident. However, it is unclear if Battle’s termination and Souder’s stormy exit last week are related.

Regardless, Brady — who has jurisdiction over Capitol Hill campus issues — has been trying to get Battle his old job back.

“It’s ridiculous,” Brady said Wednesday. “Big guys gotta bother the little guys? What the hell is the matter with them? I don’t think he deserved to get fired. … It’s a shame.”

Brady spoke with Nicole Hall, the café manager, who told him she didn’t want to fire Battle, but was forced to.

“She was upset she had to fire him,” Brady said. When Brady asked to speak with David Anderson — Hall’s superior — Anderson declined to discuss the matter.

Brady subsequently approached House Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard about the firing and is awaiting a response.

Battle’s former colleagues said he was well-liked.

“He seemed to be a pretty good gentleman,” said James Gaylor, a temporary sandwich and dessert maker at the café. “I knew him for four days.”

A female café employee who spoke anonymously said she knows that “Battle was a good employee” who “talks well with the customers.”

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rep.-brady-wants-fired-caf-worker-reinstated-2007-11-15.html