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NEW YORK: A print shop in Maryland spotted the photo on Twitter Wednesday night (January 6): An employee wandering the halls of the United States Capitol with a company insignia around his neck. He was fired the next day.
Others face similar repercussions at work for their involvement in Wednesday’s riot at the United States Capitol. Some business owners are being criticized on social media and their establishments boycotted, while grassroots employees in other businesses have been fired.
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The printer, Navistar Direct Marketing, declined to name the worker but said it cannot offer employment to people who “engage in dangerous behavior that endangers the health and safety of others.”
Supporters of President Donald Trump scale the west wall of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington. (Photo: AP / Jose Luis Magana)
More than 90 people have been arrested since Wednesday when loyalists to outgoing President Donald Trump interrupted lawmakers when they met to confirm the Electoral College results and President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
People on social media have been trying to identify the rioters photographed or filmed on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, pressuring the companies that employ them to fire them.
At a data analysis company in the Chicago suburbs, the employee in question was the main boss. Cogensia fired CEO Bradley Rukstales on Friday night for his role in the riots.
“This decision was made because Rukstales’ actions were inconsistent with Cogensia’s core values,” newly appointed Acting Executive Director Joel Schiltz said in a statement.
“Cogensia condemns what happened at the US Capitol on Wednesday and we intend to continue to embrace the values of integrity, diversity and transparency in our business operations, and we hope that all employees will also embrace those values.”
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Rukstales, who was arrested for trespassing, told a local CBS news channel that he had entered the Capitol and apologized for his role in the events. Calls and emails to Rukstales were not returned.
An occupational therapist at the Cleveland school resigned from the district after her alleged involvement in the riot. A spokeswoman for a fire department near Orlando, Florida, said one of its firefighters was under investigation for his involvement.
Sanford Fire Department firefighter Andy Williams was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome, spokeswoman Bianca Gillett said.
Most private employers can fire workers for attending protests, as First Amendment rights only prohibit people from being punished by the government for their speech, not by a private employer, said Susan Kline, an attorney. Indianapolis-based labor and employment at Faegre Drinker Law Firm. .
There are some exceptions: those who work for the government may be more legally protected, as are many unionized workers, who often have a contract that lists the reasons why they could be fired. And some states may have laws that protect workers’ free speech.
But “what people did on Capitol Hill Wednesday was riots, not protests,” said Aaron Holt, a labor attorney at the Cozen O’Connor law firm. “When someone violates the law, that will almost never be protected, and a private employer will be within their right to discipline or take some action in response to that that could go against their core fundamental values.”
Small businesses are also facing a backlash from online review sites like Yelp, which flagged at least 20 businesses for unusual review activity related to Wednesday’s riots.
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One company, Becky’s Flowers in Midland, Texas, is owned by Jenny Cudd, a former mayoral candidate who posted a video on Facebook bragging about breaking into the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
By Friday, Cudd’s florist was inundated with dozens of one-star reviews calling her a traitor and domestic terrorist, along with photos of her inside the Capitol.
Later, Cudd said in a video message to The Associated Press that he did not personally go to Pelosi’s office or see people break down the door, and that when he said “we,” he was referring to everyone who was on Capitol Hill. He said he did not do anything violent or destroy any property.
“I walked through an open door into the Capitol along with several hundred other people,” Cudd said.
He added that he had “received multiple death threats along with thousands of one-star reviews across the country from people who have never been to my business.”
Yelp has singled out companies for unusual review activity after less egregious but still controversial events. Critics raged on the Yelp page of Virginia restaurant The Red Hen after it expelled former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders from its establishment a few years ago. And commentators from the left and right bombarded Big Apple Pizza’s Yelp page with political beliefs after former President Barack Obama was enthusiastically embraced by a customer there.
Social media has denounced people for their involvement in activities outside the workplace, which has gotten them in trouble with their employers. In 2017, after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, many posted photos on social media of those who participated, in some cases leading to their firing.
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In Louisiana, customers said they would boycott the Rouses Market supermarket chain after retired owner Donald Rouse was shown in a photo in Wednesday’s riot. Rouse said in an email statement that he attended the rally as a supporter of the president, but left before the violence began.
“I am appalled at the violence and destruction we saw yesterday and the pain it has caused so many,” said Rouse. “Our country desperately needs to come together to heal, and I will do my best to be part of that process.”
The Krewe of Red Beans, a group that runs fashion shows, posted on Instagram that it would return $ 20,000 in donations it received from the market.
