Firings, Name Changes, and More: Buzz Week in Review
by Mike KrumboltzOct 30, 2009
This past week, workplace woes set the Search box on fire. In one case, a man was allegedly fired for wearing a "God pin" to work. In another, a group of hotel workers was told by their boss to use different names around guests. And, across the pond, the U.K.'s top drug advisor was canned for making some ill-advised comments. Catch up on those stories and more with the Buzz Week in Review.
Fired over a pin
Trevor Keezor had been working at Home Depot for over a year, when his boss pulled him aside and told him that he'd have to remove a certain pin from his orange apron. The American flag pin said "One nation under God, indivisible." Keezor refused, and he says he was fired for it. In a very buzzy article from the AP, reps from Home Depot explain that Mr. Keezer was fired for violating the dress code, not because the company agrees or disagrees with the button. Policy states that "only company-provided pins and badges can be worn" on the aprons. Not surprisingly, the story sparked tremendous interest in the Search box. Lookups on Mr. Keezor and "home depot firing" both surged into breakout status. And, also not surprisingly, a lawsuit is currently in the works. This is one story that hasn't ended yet.
Changing names at work
Here goes one of the buzziest and most bizarre stories in some time. Larry Whitten, a hotel owner in New Mexico, ordered his staff of primarily Latino workers to change their names while working. For example, a worker who pronounced his name "Mahr-teen," would have to go by "Martin." The point, Mr. Whitten asserted, was to help the hotel become more profitable and draw more customers. But instead of customers, Whitten was met with protestors—and plenty of 'em. Additionally, the story's Search profile shot through the roof. In just 24 hours, Web lookups on "Paragon Inn," the hotel in question, surged into the thousands. In an article that scored a slew of votes, Whitten explains that he's helped turn around over 20 hotels, and this isn't racism. His guests, he contends, can't understand Spanish. Still, he later said that he was "sorry for the misunderstanding and insisted he has never been against any culture."
Watch your words
The United States isn't the only country to fight a war on drugs. The U.K. is battling, too, and until this past week, one of the country's biggest fighters was David Nutt. But that was before he went on the record as saying that marijuana, LSD, and ecstacy were less dangerous than alcohol. The assertion caused a huge stir and led to Mr. Nutt's near-immediate dismissal. But the recently laid-off official isn't taking the news lying down. In an interview with BBC, Mr. Nutt accused British Prime Minister Gordon Brown of being "irrational" with regards to the dangers of marijuana. In another buzzy article, Mr. Nutt was quoted as saying that he was "not prepared to mislead the public about the harmfulness of drugs like cannabis and Ecstasy." The British government is currently seeking a replacement.
Also buzzing this week...
• Joe Biden doesn't care what Dick Cheney thinks.
• Move over "Blair Witch." "Paranormal Activity" is now the most profitable movie in history.
• Wanna dress like Lady Gaga? Get some advice from the woman herself.
