Don't Be Orange in Florida

[Bladed_Crescent]

Law Firm Fires 14 people for Wearing Orange Shirts

They weren't wearing sagging pants or revealing clothing. But dressing in an orange shirt is apparently enough to get fired at one Florida law firm, where 14 workers were unceremoniously let go last Friday.

In an interview with the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, several of the fired workers say they wore the matching colors so they would be identified as a group when heading out for a happy hour event after work. They say the executive who fired them initially accused them of wearing the matching color as a form of protest against management.

[....]

The law offices of Elizabeth R. Wellborn, P.A. offered "no comment" to Sun-Sentinel reporter Doreen Hemlock, but four ex-employees tell the paper they were simply wearing their orange shirts to celebrate "pay day" and the upcoming Friday group happy hour.

"There is no office policy against wearing orange shirts. We had no warning. We got no severance, no package, no nothing," Lou Erik Ambert told the paper. "I feel so violated."

Ironically, had the employees been wearing orange as a form of protest, it would have been illegal to fire them, ABC News reports.

After the 14 employees were fired, an executive said anyone wearing orange for an "innocent reason" should speak up. At least one employee immediately denied any involvement or knowledge of a protest and explained the happy hour color coordination. Nonetheless, they were still fired.

[....]

And there's really nothing anyone can do about the terminations since Florida is an at-will state, meaning employers can fire an employee who doesn't have a contract "for a good reason, for a bad reason or even for the wrong reason, as long as it's not an unlawful reason," Eric K. Gabrielle, a labor and employment lawyer at Stearns Weaver, told the Sun-Sentinel. Gabrielle said there was no apparent violation of the law in this case.

That really is a bitter irony; if they'd lied and said "Uh, yeah this is a protest... sure..." then they couldn't be fired and if they were, they'd have had grounds to appeal/sue/take the issue further. What's even worse is the poor dumb bastard who did exactly what the manager wanted - he said he was wearing orange for the "innocent reason", and explained what the reason was - was still punished with the rest of them. I can't help but think that workplace morale at the firm has just gone down the crapper - piss off a manager and even if you do what they say, you're still out on the street.

[Darth Tanner]

How common is it for people in America working at a law firm to be working without a contract? Wouldn't that make them temporary staff? Even us civilized Europeans can fire people at will when they’re not on a contract.

I’d agree with you though, that manager is screwed unless he’s one of the partners as he probably just made himself the least popular person in the office, even more so with the other manages considering the bad press he brought on the firm.

[TheFeniX]

How common is it for people in America working at a law firm to be working without a contract? Wouldn't that make them temporary staff?

Florida is a "Right to Work" / "Employment at Will" state and I don't recall there being any contract employment for law firms.

Aren't law firms well-known for this type of shit behavior for their lower level employees, such as secretaries and entry-level lawyers (for lack of a better term)?

[Simon_Jester]

This is a great illustration of why "right-to-work" is such a darkly Orwellian phrase. It means quite the opposite: "right-to-fire."

[The Spartan]

Aren't law firms well-known for this type of shit behavior for their lower level employees, such as secretaries and entry-level lawyers (for lack of a better term)?

For what little it's worth, I know three lawyers and all three had to go through serving petty tyrants when they were just starting off.

[Col. Crackpot]

Firing people for wearing orange? Makes me wonder.... Were the lawyers Irish Catholics with delusions of 1970's Belfast? Did everyone in the office showing up in orange the day before St. Pattys cause some wannabe douche to channel his inner Gerry Adams and throw a fit?

edit: i can't type

[Eulogy]

Who wants to bet that some wiseass will start painting the building orange? Or that he will dye the suits' suits orange?

More seriously, this negative PR might drive away new hires and leave the firm understaffed. In which case, the managers have nobody to blame but themselves.

[Silver Jedi]

I wonder how hard it would be to organize a protest among the remaining employees where they wear orange to work as a sign of solidarity. That would be ironic.

[spaceviking]

Who wants to bet that some wiseass will start painting the building orange? Or that he will dye the suits' suits orange?

More seriously, this negative PR might drive away new hires and leave the firm understaffed. In which case, the managers have nobody to blame but themselves.

I think American law firms are going to have no problem finding applicants. Just too many lawyers,

[Irbis]

Firing people for wearing orange? Makes me wonder.... Were the lawyers Irish Catholics with delusions of 1970's Belfast?

Irish? My first thought was Dutch. Anyway.

Or that he will dye the suits' suits orange?

How? With paintball gun?

More seriously, this negative PR might drive away new hires and leave the firm understaffed. In which case, the managers have nobody to blame but themselves.

In current economy, you'd find applicants even if first step to get a job was to kiss boss boot. So, fat chance, sadly.

[mr friendly guy]

Firing people for wearing orange? Makes me wonder.... Were the lawyers Irish Catholics with delusions of 1970's Belfast?

Irish? My first thought was Dutch. Anyway.

He is referring to the Protestant Orange Order.

[Irbis]

He is referring to the Protestant Orange Order.

I know. But, you know, the only reason it's Orange Order is due to Dutch. That, and the first colors associated with Irish when someone asks being almost always exclusively green, but whatever.

[Col. Crackpot]

He is referring to the Protestant Orange Order.

I know. But, you know, the only reason it's Orange Order is due to Dutch. That, and the first colors associated with Irish when someone asks being almost always exclusively green, but whatever.

History Lesson for Irbis: Northern Ireland was once a violent place. Orange is the historical color of Protestant Unionists loyal to the British crown. Green was the color of Irish Republican Catholics. For centuries they killed/hated each other/blew each others shit up and also wore the aforementioned colors to insult one another. In the late 90's they finally realized: hey this is pretty stupid, lets sign a peace accord. Now they don't kill each other. Though every year on St. Patty's you do hear of a couple of stupid American's 3 or 4 generations removed from Irish immigration thinking they need to avenge Bobby Sands or the Bloody Sunday Massacre (usually after a few drinks) because they read about The Troubles on the internet.
Being somewhat knowledgeable on the topic as i am the child of an Irish immigrant family (with a sprinkling of stupid relatives who romanticized the IRA) i saw the common theme was orange shirts on St Patricks Day weekend and made a logical hypothesis.

[Broomstick]

How common is it for people in America working at a law firm to be working without a contract? Wouldn't that make them temporary staff? Even us civilized Europeans can fire people at will when they’re not on a contract.

As a general rule, in American workplaces only high level executives have a contract. Which means, by the standard you mentioned, even most management workers are "temporary" in the US. At a law firm everyone below "Partner" would be an at-will employee with no contract.

[Slacker]

Aren't law firms well-known for this type of shit behavior for their lower level employees, such as secretaries and entry-level lawyers (for lack of a better term)?

My wife is a lawyer. Replace that with "Everyone who's name is not on the door" and you have a generally good idea of how things work.

[mr friendly guy]

He is referring to the Protestant Orange Order.

I know. But, you know, the only reason it's Orange Order is due to Dutch. That, and the first colors associated with Irish when someone asks being almost always exclusively green, but whatever.

He isn't referring to Irish Catholics (who we associate green with). He is referring to the people they used to fight, who are associated with the colour orange. When Crackpot is talking about the Irish Catholics, he isn't referring to the people fired, but the people doing the firing.