Ex-Marine fired from job for lowering flag on Memorial Day

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Ex-Marine fired from job for lowering flag on Memorial Day

Updated 11:03 am, Saturday, June 4, 2016

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A former Marine says he was fired from his contract job with Time Warner Cable in Charlotte after he lowered the American flag to half-staff on Memorial Day.

The Charlotte Observer reports (http://bit.ly/1X3eT3v) Allen Thornwell was thinking about his best friend, a former Marine who he says killed himself two years ago after he returned stateside.

The 29-year-old Thornwell was fired Tuesday. The placement service that arranged the job for Thornwell said Time Warner told them they were disturbed by what was termed him "passion for the flag and (his) political affiliation."

Thornwell said he remains in shock over his firing. A Time Warner Cable spokesman confirmed Friday that the former Marine "was no longer under contract" with the company but declined further comment.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Ex-Marine-fired-from-job-for-lowering-flag-on-7963310.php

[msanthrope]

1. Bad headline. You are never an ex-Marine. nt

[tiptonic]

2. Always Faithful

Semper Fidelis

[Just reading posts]

12. Spot on.

[NickB79]

13. First thing I noticed too. nt

[mckara]

3. The Flag Should Have Been at Half-Staff between Morning Colors and Noon!

Time Warner should have known flag protocol.

[jberryhill]

8. It was 2:30 PM

[MohRokTah]

4. I don't think we have all the story here.

[jberryhill]

6. Always a good question

When the headline is of the form:

(Person) subjected to (bad thing) because of (unjustified reason)

Was it his job to determine how the flag should be flying? Or did he have a range of ideas on how to run the facility in general?

[jberryhill]

7. The Charlotte Observer has further details

From the detailed account, it seems his behavior around the incident is what gave them pause.

[PersonNumber503602]

9. I'm thinking the same.

I would be curious to know how he approached this and expressed his concerns. Being a creep I did a quick search for him on Linkedin and he seems to work on the network side. It's been my experience that those types of departments and jobs at service providers attract a lot of former military who would likely be sympathetic to the whole flag thing. Obviously that is 100% for sure, but it's something I've experienced. So if that's the case, then I really have to wonder how much there is to this story.

[marble falls]

11. So what?

[PersonNumber503602]

15. What do you mean?

[onecaliberal]

5. Tim doesn't give a fuck about anything but $

[marble falls]

10. Just one more reason I will not and do not use Time Warner Cable. Their "politics" is questionable.

[tabasco]

14. I keep thinking there's more to this story

than "being fired for lowering the flag."

It's possible the guy is just an asshole.

[christx30]

16. I've been at TWC for over 4 years.

It's a great place to work. In order to get fired, you have to work at it. Fail to make your quotas for like 5 months. Or screw up so badly something explodes. I seriously doubt anyone got fired for anything flag related. There must be more to the story than the article is letting on.

[gregcrawford]

17. A video at the Charlotte Observer website...

... shows a reasonable and articulate young man explaining his position. Keep in mind that it is a long-standing tradition, if not a requirement, that flags fly at half-mast on Memorial Day, but it is federal LAW that the assholes at Time Warner Cable cannot fire someone for their political affiliations.

Mr. Thornwell should sue those bastards, though I can't imagine he'd want to work there again.

The stomach-roiling stench of corporatism fouls every aspect of this story.

[left-of-center2012]

18. I suspect there's more to the story

I doubt he was fired just for lowering the flag.

[left-of-center2012]

19. More info on what happened ...

(The U.S. Flag Code, which offers guidance on how to fly the flag during holidays, says the banner should be at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day then returned to its normal position.
The incident took place around 2:30 p.m.)

"On Monday, he arrived at the company’s service center off Arrowood Road having left his security badge at home. A boss sent him to pick up a replacement. Waiting outside the security office, he noticed the nearby flag at full-staff. Without a word to anyone, Thornwell says he marched, Marine-style, to the pole, lowered the flag to a midway point, came to full attention, then about-faced and walked away. He didn’t salute. He says Marines don’t salute when out of uniform.

Inside the security building, Thornwell said he was told by one of the guards that “It’s company policy that no one touches the flagpole.”

By the time Thornwell left – and only a few minutes after he had lowered it – the flag was back at full-staff.

Thornwell said he reacted angrily at what he took as a sign of disrespect to him and other vets. He can be heard cursing twice in a short video he shot at the scene with his phone. He said he wanted to send a message to military personnel around the world that “this is what the people back home think about us.”

That night on Facebook, Thornwell posted the photos he took of the flag at full- and half-staff, and brief video of himself talking to the camera as he walked back to his job site. He stamped the footage “Timewarner.”

He put this title on the post: “So many years wasted. I’m telling you ... PEOPLE DON’T GIVE A F***.”

The next day before work, he says he got a call from Warren, his placement manager: “Can you tell me what happened yesterday?”

Time Warner, she told him, had canceled his contract."

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article81658827.html#storylink=cpy