# Miss work as a political protest, get fired. Fair? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297 "2017-02-20T04:00:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/101 "2017-02-23T18:41:24Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m not sure why we’re letting the anti-immigrant Trump supporter set the narrative here. Where did it say that the boss was a Trump supporter? :dubious: > [@](#): > > It’s unfair that these immigrants are not as equal as everyone else. They were. Anyone who wasn’t an immigrant likely would’ve been fired as well. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/102 "2017-02-23T18:57:40Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And it is unfair that other workers didn’t join with them in solidarity. It’s unfair that their fellow workers voted for and made President someone they knew would try to remove them. 😕 Curious BigT, did you personally attend a local rally in support of immigrant workers, where you live? If not, well… WRT to the President trying to remove them…pretty sure that all of these workers that we’re discussing in this thread are in most cases citizens of the US or green card holders, otherwise their employers are in some really deep shit, for hiring undocumented workers. _Psssst…this thread isn’t about muslims trying come to 'Merica!_ ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/103 "2017-02-23T20:24:28Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I think their thought process might have been “You disrespected meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” > > Because management is made up of people, and people act like irrational doofuses sometimes. Even if that \*was \*management’s motive, that doesn’t make the firing unjustified/unfair. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/104 "2017-02-23T21:48:56Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > You know who takes time off work with less than 24 hour notice? Everyone. > > You all never get sick, and call in that morning? That’s 1 hour notice. That probably won’t get you in trouble. “I think I’m coming down with the flu.” “Stay home and come back when you feel better.” “I’m taking off work to take part in a political protest.” “Bullshit. I don’t care why you’re not coming in. Come to work tomorrow or you’re fired.” One circumstance is beyond a worker’s control. The other one is a personal choice not to work. There’s a difference between can’t work and won’t work. Also, only one or two people are likely to call in sick on a given day instead of 18. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/105 "2017-02-23T23:12:06Z")
I have finally decided that it is because the thread title is prefaced by "Poll: " where it appears in the list of threads, so it looks like an honorifically capitalized “M”, but dammit,… Every time I see this thread title, I visualize someone being crowned “Miss work” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/106 "2017-02-24T00:33:10Z")
We really do need to know the company’s policies, and their history of enforcement of those policies. If they always fire people who don’t show up for work for any reason, then this is fair. If they usually don’t, then this is not only unfair, but probably illegal. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/107 "2017-02-24T00:54:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > We really do need to know the company’s policies, and their history of enforcement of those policies. If they always fire people who don’t show up for work for any reason, then this is fair. If they usually don’t, then this is not only unfair, but probably illegal. Probably unfair, but I doubt it’s illegal. Tennessee is a right-to-work state. The rightness or wrongness can be debated, but workers can be fired without notice or a reason. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/108 "2017-02-24T02:21:49Z")
Why do people keep saying Tennessee is an at-will state like the circumstances special? **All** US states are at-will to some degree, and most to a huge degree (only 6 states allow all three recognized exceptions!) But anyway, they were warned they’d be fired and skipped anyway, so I voted fair. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/109 "2017-02-24T03:48:17Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Probably unfair, but I doubt it’s illegal. Tennessee is a right-to-work state. The rightness or wrongness can be debated, but workers can be fired without notice or a reason. Right to work doesn’t mean you can apply standards unequally, particularly when you’re mixing in something that might be a protected class like “political affiliation” (it depends on the business and location, PA isn’t always a protected class). ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/110 "2017-02-24T13:52:08Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > The whole point of the protest was to show the employer how dependent they are on the employee by not showing up for work and “hurting” the employer. Really no. It was to show society at large how integral this complete population group is to our shared function every day. Thinking it through to the point of realizing that doing such would actually hurt some businesses, some more than others, and some quite significantly? The impact at the level of the individual employee and employer was (foolishly) ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/111 "2017-02-24T20:13:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > We really do need to know the company’s policies, and their history of enforcement of those policies. If they always fire people who don’t show up for work for any reason, then this is fair. If they usually don’t, then this is not only unfair, but probably illegal. Probably depends on the actual reason. If someone doesn’t show because say, their spouse died, or they got in a carwreck on the way to work, I think that would be a wee bit different. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/112 "2017-02-25T00:18:00Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Really no. It was to show society at large how integral this complete population group is to our shared function every day. Thinking it through to the point of realizing that doing such would actually hurt some businesses, some more than others, and some quite significantly? The impact at the level of the individual employee and employer was (foolishly) ignored. Did you read what you wrote? You just restated what you disagreed with. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/113 "2017-02-25T01:51:16Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Did you read what you wrote? You just restated what you disagreed with. Did you read what I wrote? It appears not. Maybe I can state it more simply for you. I do not believe that individuals participating in this protest intended harm to their employers. Harm was not the goal. In the case of these workers at the paint factory I suspect that they felt that working on Sunday would make up for their not being there on the protest day while still being part of a national action that demonstrated that there are lots of these workers making significant contributions every day. Demonstrating that latter bit was the intent. And I think it was foolish to not realize that there would be harm to some employers. It was not a well thought out protest action IMHO but the intent was to highlight the meaningful contribution this population makes every day and not to cause harm to their employers. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/114 "2017-03-11T17:32:49Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The issue here is that these immigrants were fighting for their own rights, after the President of the United States had just attacked them. You are wrong. If they were illegal immigrants they have no right to live here let alone work here. And Trump was not targeting legal immigrants, it is just the pro-illegal immigration people have made it so being against illegal immigration = hating all brown people. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/115 "2017-03-13T09:31:28Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > You are wrong. > If they were illegal immigrants they have no right to live here let alone work here. > And Trump was not targeting legal immigrants, it is just the pro-illegal immigration people have made it so being against illegal immigration = hating all brown people. …because the anti-brown-people people continue to claim that it’s all about illegal immigration, yet also continue to demand that anyone who doesn’t look like them “go back where they came from” regardless of where they were born or their legal status. It wasn’t the left who started this equivalence. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/116 "2017-03-16T01:12:25Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > …because the anti-brown-people people continue to claim that it’s all about illegal immigration, yet also continue to demand that anyone who doesn’t look like them “go back where they came from” regardless of where they were born or their legal status. Cite on anyone with any power advocating the deportation of legal residents? ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/117 "2017-03-17T04:35:38Z")
Maybe some of these employers were covering their own asses by have illegal workers. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/118 "2017-03-17T11:48:14Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Cite on anyone with any power advocating the deportation of legal residents? Cite that I specified “anyone with any power”? I painted with the same broad brush you used. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297/119 "2017-03-17T13:53:50Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Cite that I specified “anyone with any power”? I painted with the same broad brush you used. It was implicit in BigT’s post. Here let me remind you [QUOTE=BigT] The issue here is that these immigrants were fighting for their own rights, after the President of the United States had just attacked them. [/QUOTE] So your post takes the discussion on whether or not these protestors were fighting for their rights that are (according to BigT) under attack from the President (you know, someone that actually has power to do something about immigration and deportations) and you turn it into Jimmy Billybob saying “Ah hate dem brown peoples.” behind the Tastee Freeze somehow impacting the whole immigration rights debate. My “broad brush” as you will, was a comment towards BigT’s statement that these workers had their rights under attack. The rhetoric now is that anti-illegal-immigration is anti-brown people and in some places (like Phoenix) that is absolutely correct BUT in this case the people protesting either 1. Had no rights to be here, so what rights were being violated. 2. They are here legally and thus not subject to deportation and thus their rights were not attacked by President Trump. So why did they protest? Because they have been led to believe that anti-illegal immigration enforcement will target everyone of Hispanic heritage. Enforcement as in people in power to write or enforce laws (like “Fightin’ Joe” Arpaio). So while their fears may be echoed by Jimmy drinking his peanut butter milkshake, he is not attacking their rights. I mean c’mon. Do you really think they left work because of what they heard some cracker say? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-work-as-a-political-protest-get-fired-fair/780297.md?page=5)