This article has absolutely no business being on Slashfood. The waitress angle is relevant. The woman could have had any profession.

Don't bring politics to the dinner table.

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I'm sorry Sam, but you're wrong. This post is filed under "On the Blogs" which has non-food related entries. Have you complained about them as well?

If this is true, then I hope she sues the pants off of her boss. What's funny is that Sam has complained that politics should remain off the dinner table but this is exactly what may have transpired with this waitress!

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Completely justified and legal. Pretty much just age, sex, disability, religion, and race are covered. Its not like a employer can sue when an employee quits because they don't like their views/lifestyle/whatever. At-will employment means you can fire someone because it is Tuesday or because they like Duran Duran.

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MIke is right - Democrats are not a protected class.

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@Thom - No, I'm not wrong. The 'On the Blogs' category has been used in the past for stories about food-related equipment, notable foodies making food news, food-like non-food, and poetry about food. This story, by far, is the least food relevant. It only happened to someone who works in the foodservice industry and not even while she was doing that.

I've no interest in promoting either side of the political spectrum that surrounds this. I'm only saying that Slashfood is not the place to report it.

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Sam, the beautiful part is you don't have to read non-food related articles.

As to the article and incident, I don't think she should have been fired if she was on break and wasn't trying to act on the part of her employer. I'm no expert, but I think that she probably has zero legs to stand on unfortunately. Still doesn't make it right.

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While the waitress was on a "break" from the job, was she in a uniform that would identify her as from a particular business ?

If so, then she has a problem as her actions, break or not, carry beyond herself to the reputation of the business.

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I think the circumstances of this incident need to be fleshed out before people can make judgment...


(and this doesn't seem relevant to Slashfood)

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It's still possible the termination was illegal under Arkansas law. If an at-will employee relies on a personnel manual or employment agreement that expressly states that he or she cannot be discharged except for cause, the employee may not be arbitrarily discharged in violation of such a provision.

It's really up to the bloggers themselves to determine whether something is appropriate or not. They're the ones doing all the work, and I don't have a problem with something that is not explicitly food-related appearring every once and a while. It's a subjective decision, and there are many other posts which could be perceived as being as non-food related as this one.

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Arkansas is a right-to-work state, and from my understanding employers can fire someone for any reason. Doesn't mean it would hold up if someone sued, like for discrimination.

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Not surprised something like that would happen in a state like Arkansas.

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it is ileagle to do such a thing any one can say about any thing they want unless it is raceful

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If this is a private establishment, it is probably legal. If she is a waitress for a public/government entity, she's most likely covered under the Hatch Act, in which case she can't be fired for political activities like this, as long as she is doing said activities on her own time.

Aside from the fact that we don't know the whole story... If she is working for a private establishment, she should have considered how her activities would impact her job. I'm not saying I necessarily agree with what her boss did, but it's their right as the owner to employ like-minded people.

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