Car salesman John Stone waltzed gleefully into work yesterday morning donning a Green Bay Packers tie in honor of his team’s triumph over the Bears (and in memory of his late grandmother, who was a big Packers fan). Except that Stone works in Oak Lawn, a suburb of Chicago, and was promptly fired.
Stone said that when he showed up at work, general manager Jerry Roberts called him over to his office and then ordered him to take off the Packers tie or else he would be fired. Stone said he thought Roberts was joking and went back to work.
An hour later, Stone said, Roberts came to the showroom floor and again demanded he take off the tie. When he didn’t, he was fired, Stone said.
Roberts confirmed the termination to WGN-TV, saying the dealership had promotional tie-ins with the Bears franchise, and that Stone’s apparel stood “in contrast with an advertising campaign that we spent a lot of money on.”
A simple “go home and change your tie” would probably have sufficed.
