If my employer did this to me, I would have no recourse

http://www.q-notes.com/top2007/top13_072807.html

CBS News Senior Vice President Linda Mason, who is also named individually in the lawsuit, maliciously thought Jefferson was not a crime victim seeking justice, but a “gay rights” advocate. That biased conclusion prompted Mason to threaten Jefferson with a forced leave of absence if he continued his “advocacy,” and to prohibit public comments about his personal vacation nightmare without prior approval.

On June 13, 2006, Mason went so far as to censor a personal email to the media that Jefferson wanted to send when he got word his assailant had surrendered. Mason thought Jefferson’s calling his attackers “animals” was not proper, and that the sentence, “I certainly did not choose to be beaten within a millimeter of my life just for being gay,” was controversial. Mason insisted both be deleted before he could send the rest of the message.

snip

Warned that a single complaint — legitimate or not — would end his distinguished career, Jefferson asked bluntly if he would be fired for reprimanding some of his staff on Aug. 27, 2006, for their lack of effort during a breaking news event. He was told absolutely, “No,” by his executive producer Patricia Shevlin, who was also named individually in the lawsuit.
That was only because Mason’s retaliation had to be put on hold. Jefferson was too critical to CBS News to fire in early September. He was the sole person who knew all the preparation details of the highly technical systems that would be used on election night, Katie Couric’s first as anchor of CBS News.

Induced to believe his job was still secure, Jefferson worked non-stop until the election, including 200 hours in the last 10 days alone, was praised “for holding things together” and personally thanked by Couric for the success of her inaugural election night.

Two days later, still suffering from extreme exhaustion, Jefferson’s physician ordered him to the emergency room for treatment. CBS News executives encouraged him to take a full week to recover before returning to work. The day he did, Nov. 20, 2006, Mason fired him based upon the “incident” from nearly three months before despite being assured he would not be fired.
“The judge in St. Maarten went out of his way to say my attackers — strangers I didn’t even know — were driven by discrimination and contempt for other people, found them guilty and sentenced them to prison. Turns out my bosses — friends I had known for years — had more contempt and did more damage. I’m sure a New York jury will be just as wise as that St. Maarten judge,” Jefferson added.

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Admittedly CBS has a side of the story. Maybe this guy is lying, who knows. But my point is, that even if this is 100% true, in well over half the states he would have no recourse whatsoever. This includes states such as Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina in the top ten. Another way to look at it is that a person could travel from Miami, Florida to Los Angeles, California and go through exactly two states where gays are protected from this kind of distcrimination. (New Mexico and California). When you wonder why some of us think we are second class citizens this is a prime example why.

What CBS is accused of doing should outrage us all. The fact that it is perfectly legal in about 3/4 of our states is even more outrageous. From Brownsville Texas to the north part of Montana not one single solitary employer is prevented from doing this. How much more of second class citizens could we be?

:(

K&R

:hi:

The fact that they used him up before firing him, told him that he had permission, and clearly didn't think it was an issue for months will resonate with a jury. Anyone who has ever worked for a living would be able to relate regardless of the underlying bias. CBS will probably settle before then.

x(