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14 Law Firm Employees Fired For Wearing Orange Shirts

Posted: March 19, 2012
14 Law Firm Employees Fired For Wearing Orange Shirts

Orange Shirt Firing

14 workers at a Florida law firm were apparently fired for wearing matching colored orange shirts to work.  The employees were let go Friday of last week by the law offices of Elizabeth R. Wellborn, P.A. for apparently wearing matching colors in order to identify themselves as a group while celebrating happy hour once off work.

According to one of the employees who was interviewed by the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, the group was fired by an executive of the law firm who accused the employees of wearing orange shirts in order to protest company management.

Orange is a color often associated with the Sunshine State of Florida which is widely known for exporting orange juice.  The color orange is also used by hunters, school crossing guards, and even prisoners as the color stands out significantly to the human eye.

Lou Erik Ambert, a former employee of the law offices of Elizabeth R. Wellborn, P.A., was quoted by the Sun-Sentinel’s Doreen Hemlock saying:

“There is no office policy against wearing orange shirts.  We had no warning.  We got no severance, no package, no nothing.  I feel so violated.”

It is illegal to fire an employee for wearing orange as a form of protest.  If this had been the case and the 14 employees fired were indeed wearing orange as a form of protest for which they were let go, it would be illegal.  On the other hand, Florida employers such as the aforementioned law firm have the ability to fire at-will for a good, bad, or indifferent reason, as long as the reason is not against the law.  As this is the case, it appears as if the law firm has not violated the law in this particular incident.

Meloney McLeod, a single mother who was amongst those fired for wearing an orange shirt to work in an effort to color coordinate with her fellow co-workers for a happy hour event after work, was quoted by the Sun-Sentinel saying:

“I’m a single mom with 4 kids, and I’m out of a job because I wore orange today.”

Do you think that wearing orange alongside your colleagues in anticipation of happy hour is an adequate reason to be fired?



Comments


15 Archived Responses to “ 14 Law Firm Employees Fired For Wearing Orange Shirts ”

  1. Catherine Redington Clark
    Mar 20, 2012

    Karma, Elizabeth, Karma! It will come around to get you, and when it does, I hope all the people you wrongly fired are there to watch you go down in a blaze of glory.

  2. Debbie Redington Schweiss
    Mar 20, 2012

    Elizabeth must have been suffering from paranoia that day.

  3. Peter G Lesperance
    Mar 20, 2012

    Unbelievable is all I can say.

  4. Gary McGuire
    Mar 20, 2012

    That's what happens to those who wear Orange – on or about St Patrick's Day…. Had they worn the green they would still be making the green.

  5. Bradly W. Burdette
    Mar 20, 2012

    All of the ex-employee's should now host a protest outside the offices while wearing orange! This executive should be drug tested… too much paranoia for a sober person!

  6. Bill Ham
    Mar 20, 2012

    Her business, seems like she should have the right to hire and fire who she wants…Sounds more to this than "Happy Hour"…My question is, who are these people going to get to represent them in their lawsuit, because I'm sure they're going to file one. Don't see any law firm suing another law firm…lol…

  7. Shelley Protte
    Mar 20, 2012

    I want to make sure no one does business with this company. ever. To fire 14 people…no warning, no severance, no nothing? Just for wearing orange for a after-hours bit of fun with company? Nope. Sorry. Goodbye law firm. You're part of the problem with America. Requiring no fun, all the time, on or off work, is not human.

  8. Suzanne Czurylo Shelata
    Mar 21, 2012

    Elizabeth obviously wasn't invited.

  9. Christopher Koulouris
    Mar 22, 2012

    What I’m wondering though, is why were these executives so paranoid? Clearly they thought that there would be reason for their employees to protest? Only a guilty conscious would clear out so many workers in one quick meeting.

    The irony of course is had the employer fired these employees for protesting (that is to say they were actually protesting) the employees under state law would have been entitled to get their jobs back, but because they were simply fired for non descript reasons, state law allows these firings to stand.

    http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2012/03/orange-is-so-not-the-new-pink-plus-it-can-get-you-fired/

  10. Amber Gerard
    Mar 25, 2012

    As I was opening my email this morning a little news clip flashed on the bottom of my screen. It said “employees with orange shirts fired.” 14 employees were fired because the firm believed that they were wearing them as a form of protest. I had to stop for a minute and cringe before I could continue reading. Was this for real? I understand the purpose of dress codes and I appreciate them, but in this situation there was no violation made….the firms employee handbook clearly noted that employees were allowed to wear casual work attire on Friday’s….. this is traditionally known as ‘casual Fridays.’ In addition, this wasn’t the first time that the 14 employes wore orange shirts …..they has been wearing them every Friday for the last couple of months. Nothing was ever said and no warning ever issued until two days ago when they were all handed a pink slip out of the blue. The interesting thing about that alone, if they had all been wearing blue shirts NOTHING would have happened. Interesting huh?

    They weren’t wearing orange shirts because they were preparing for a mutiny. They were doing it to express the bond that they shared by working together. It was a symbol of friendship. Wearing the orange shirts on Friday’s was a tradition for them, the tradition being Orange on Happy Hour Friday’s. They would show up to work in their orange shirts and after work go to their favorite bar, drink and laugh after a long week just like everyone does on Friday’s.

    Anyone who works for a law firm, financial firm, government agency, organization, restaurant, or hotel , etc. takes part in the Happy Hour tradition. To tell you the truth… their employer should be happy. Every time they went to that bar, screaming and a holler’in, talking about deals and long nights they were indirectly promoting the firm without even knowing it. They made the firm look like a place to work and a place to work with. This sounds crazy, but the more fun you have the more it signifies how hard you work. Working until 2 am in the morning, waking up at 6, writing, researching, talking with clients, meeting with clients calls for a bigger stress reliever.(aka HAPPY HOUR).

    As an aside, I just went downstairs to eat dinner with my parents and they were watching a show on celebrity tour busses. In the episode they were featuring Amy Grants. As she was talking about life on a tour bus she mentioned that there was a ritual that she and her team follow every time they reach their destination. She and her team take their 10 bikes out of the bottom of the bus put on the same identical brown shirts and take a little ride together. Hmmm

    The irony in all of this: there will be a large group of people, potential clients included, who won’t think Deerfield is all that great anymore. People want to work with people that work hard and people that work well and more importantly with people that are friendly and happy because that creates trust.

    It is scary to think that at any moment some spontaneous decision could be made that will effect a career.

    A.

  11. Arland McMullen
    Apr 7, 2012

    Still think we need fewer government regulations? Corporations walk all over people without regulations and the government standing up for workers rights.

  12. Karl Jentzsch
    Apr 16, 2012

    Even if their presumption about the cause of the orange shirts was incorrect the intent to commit a crime was still present.

  13. Nick Hunter
    Apr 16, 2012

    Maybe they're Phillies fans

  14. Bones Zones
    May 25, 2012

    A simple protest fine. But what if that protest happens to be against the policies of the company they work for? Then it's a conflict of interest and of course depends on what policies! They were hired under the presumption that they they liked the company and wanted to work for them. They made it be known that it wasn't true. So POOF, good bye. If I work at McDonald's and I'm against washing my hands before assembling burgers, I'm out! If I work for Walmart and I'm against the policy of showing up for work on time, guess what? I'M OUT!

    I agree with letting them go to form a healthier clientele. If they want to protest, they can do so elsewhere. They certainly weren't fired for wearing orange, and they know that. IF they don't, they're really stupid. I've never heard going against your employers without it having a negative outcome. The only exceptions are giant unions where thousands all go against say a moter company for rights etc. Then it's different. These 14 turkeys didn't think it through well enough and are hence, OUT of the picture having learned a valuable lesson. Again it has nothing to do with colors folks. It's linked to their true intent and WHAT those colors represented.


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