Should It Be Legal To Fire Someone For Being Gay?

Because this Republican thinks its perfectly okay to, because gay people choose to be gay:

Here is what he said on the issue:

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/05/14/482200/lankford-fired-gay/

What a wonderful person. A person could be competent, hard working, always willing to work overtime, and never late for a shift, but this bloke thinks its okay to fire them, because apparently he doesn't think homosexuals are productive workers.

I believe that an employer has the right to hire whomever they like for their job, but they should not have the right to fire a person simply for being gay, except in exceptional circumstances. (person applies for work at a Catholic school, and is homosexual, which is against Church teachings)

 

I would never do that. If a business owner was to fire a good employee based on that... his loss!

 

Mitt Romney answers: YES to firing people, (even if a trusted advisor), just for being gay.

and

Mitt Romney says: YES to firing people in general because he likes to, and YES to firing factory workers with pensions, because "thats Capitalism" (baby).

But Mitt feels your pain, because he too, has experienced what its like to be out of a job. Vacationing with millions of dollars instead of being on the job putting other people out of work was a very frustrating time for him.

 

In my opinion, the employer/employee relationship is a private one so, yes. The employee can leave for any reason she sees fit. Conversely, her employer should be able to terminate her employment for any reason he sees fit.

 

I think it should be legal for any business owner to fire whoever they want for any reason. If they fire someone for being black, they will deal with the consequences when people find out. Most people, myself included, would discontinue my service to such a business. Problem solved without government bureaucracy or the need for pro-racist laws.

 

I always hired gays.

They had this inborn hatred of heterosexuals I found very useful.

 

See this is what I mean when I say you can't stereotype America or Americans. There is so much diversity of opinion in the country. Here we have an elected official who believes an employer should be able to fire a gay person simply for being themselves. And of course he would support an employer being able to fire a straight person simply for being themselves. And we have posters who believe that an employer should be able to fire an employee for any reason at all. I tell you, this is diversity in itself.

 

I don't agree that an employer should be able to fire someone for any reason. I think that once you have hired that person, unless the employee is incompetent, turns up late frequently, or violates a company rule, then they should have to remain within the company.

If an employee is a hard worker, there is no reason to fire them - and such a thing is not allowed in Australia. We can take you to court for terminating our employment without a justifiable reason.

 

And you don't think you could find a different reason as an employer?

 

Well, just keep your sexual preferences to yourself in the workplace, and there's nothing to worry about. You're there to work, not have sex.

 

I agree, but should it come out that you are a homosexual you shouldn't be fired for it. If it is a privately owned business however, then the owner has that freedom (or should) because of the first amendment. It isn't "technically" illegal to be racist.

 

I would fire a person only if they were lazy and didn't do what the job required. Or if I went bankrupt, but I wouldn't fire someone simple because they were gay, or black, whatever. That is just wrong.

 

With the exception of Montana employment in the US is "at will employment" meaning they can fire you without cause. There can be some exceptions like contracts written or possible verbal.
http://m.ncsl.org/issues-research/labor/at-will-employment-overview.aspx

So given that fact it would be hard to believe a employer would actually tell a employee they were being fired for their sexuality. It is however legal to fire someone for being either homosexual or bisexual in 29 states. 34 states it is legal to fire someone for being transgendered. With Montana actually being one of those states. While I would object to a person being fired for a reason like that, the only state a law could possible prevent that would be Montana since you must give cause in that state. The other states employers would just give no cause for the termination.
http://sites.hrc.org/sites/passendanow/index.asp

 

Technically, in a free country, private businesses should be free to set their own hiring and firing policies. No one has the right to work for any specific company, and everyone has the freedom to go somewhere else or even start up their own business if they don't like a company's policies. To use an argument from the other side, it's none of your business what they do with their own companies. No one is forcing you to support them.

 

Goodness me. It also says that an employer can cut a employees pay, cut their benefits, or reduce their time off without telling the emoloyee. It seems to me that employees in the US are treated poorly!

Now, I notice that it says the employer can terminate an employee at any time, for whatever reason, except an illegal one. Would termination on the basis of homosexuality be an illegal reason? I am still reading through your link so I don't know if it's mentioned.

I see what you mean, it IS a private business and they should be able to hire whomever they please - BUT - I think that once you have hired someone, you commit to them. You shouldn't be allowed to fire them unless you have a good reason.

I mean, consider this: What if you turned up at your workplace, having worked hard for 20 years, only to be told that you had been fired, and no reason was given? You have no income, no way to pay the bills. Wouldn't you be angry about that?

 

A little off topic but my best friends mom is in her late 60's and a hardcore Mormon. She believes gays are evil and are going to hell. She started this job with a huge company a few years ago. It turned out that the only person who showed her respect and treated her like an actual human being was the flaming gay guy at work. All the Christians treated her like (*)(*)(*)(*). Now after all these years she doesn't know how to feel about gays.

That guy probably deserves to be fire.

 

That's why I said hiring and firing policies. If a private business wants to set a no homosexuals policy, that should be their right to do so. And thus if it comes out later that an employee happens to be gay then they have reasonable grounds for termination because that employee was not honest when they were hired. It's like lying on your application about your credentials.

Technically, you should always be prepared for this anyway since a lot of companies state when they hire you that they reserve the right to fire you for any reason and they don't necessarily have to tell you what it is. If you sign your name, you agree to those terms. The upside is that it usually works both ways and you can quit at any point without giving a reason.

Plus, it's never good to get too comfortable in any job regardless of how long you've been there.

 

It depends on their gayness.

 

As long as the person is not having sex or other such activity on the business premises, I see no reason to fire them.

People living across Europe and most other continents are often surprised by the lack of worker protection and other such laws in the US.

Many have taken the "freedom" to be something much more than it is and in fact too much of one's freedom can curtail another person's freedom. For example the right to insult any one for being of another race, religion or culture is thought of as something American but people who support these views fail to realize that they in turn erode the others' right to live free from such social oppression. In the name of political correctness, many such measures have been taken but many are still lacking. Freedom should only be a right as long as it does not infringe the rights or freedom of another individual otherwise by extension, one should be free to destroy the car on the street simply because one does not like the color of the car. A just society can never be entirely free. Society must place certain restrictions to ensure that each individual has the same rights otherwise the minorities in any society will always end up on the losing end.

 

I am surprised the gay guy even bothered with this woman. I wouldn't have given her the time of day if I knew her views. She should have more respect for homosexuals, given she was treated with dignity and respect by one.

I agree with this. I wouldn't like it if an employer was asking potential employees if they were homosexual, but I don't see why the homosexual couldn't just boycott the company - and if they lied in the interview, the employer would have every reason to fire them.

Sounds like its tough for a worker in the US. As I said earlier, over here, we could take you to court if you terminated our employment without a good reason.

 

It can be rough but you can also quit at anytime without notice, except that would be held against you in future job interviews. It does encourage you to be a hard worker since that makes you more valuable.

In 21 states it would be illegal to fire someone for being homosexual or bisexual, 16 offer protection for transgendered individuals but like I said the employer does not have to give cause or can just make one up so there is no way to prevent that from occurring even in those states. It could actually make a employer hesitant to hire a protected person from fear of a lawsuit.

 

Considering a business in starting up and profiteering, uses the governments established systems in doing so, it can not claim so since every person pays a tax rate unrelated to their religion, race or other belief. If one white employee decides to discriminate against blacks, another black employee in discrimination might do the same against whites. What happens then if the major white business owners in retaliation all or most or even a few adopt the tit for tat approach and start discriminating against blacks. Blacks could do the same but being in the minority, it is they who will eventually suffer not to mention the common citizens who would be inconvenienced by it. Some sort of protection is always required as ultimately it is the minorities that end up suffering the most although the majority would also suffer but not as much. The ultimate result would be the division along racial / religious lines and an increase in intolerance all round and the adverse affects of it all on the social and business climate of the nation.

 

Mak, the gay guy doesn't know she is Mormon or how she feels about him. He was just being a good person because he is a good person. That is why she doesn't know how to feel because he has no idea what her beliefs are.

 

Oh okay. But she knew he was gay, though? The guy is obviously an all round nice person, and I do hope she has changed her opinion about homosexuals.

 

I believe she has.