Merry Christmas, You’re Fired!
Written by: Kim Sawyer
If you watched the following scene on a television program, what would be your initial thoughts?
The boss tells the employee to greet customers with “Happy Holidays.” The employee, a devout Christian, ask for permission to say “Merry Christmas” instead. The boss tells the employee, ”No. You have to greet the customers with Happy Holidays.” The employee says, “I just simply can’t do that. That just goes against my religious beliefs to secularize Christmas in the time of this season.” The boss responds with, “You’re Fired!” The employee then collects his/her belongings as the boss picks up the phone to call the police. The boss’ final words to the employee are, “Now, we’re going to have a Merry Christmas. What about you, now that you no longer have a job?”
Would you think something along the lines, “that couldn’t happen in real life.”  Also, would you ask yourself the question:  Can an employer fire an employee for insubordination IF what he or she is asking infringes upon the employee’s religious beliefs?
Guess what? It just happened to a lady in Panama City, FL! Isn’t this just flat out wrong?! Seriously, what (or who) would it have hurt to just allow the employee to wish someone a Merry Christmas?!  I feel this was way too extreme, how about you?
Tags: employment, holidays
December 30th, 2008 at 9:16 am
The manager was callous in his bitter parting remarks. That was unnecessary.
However the reason to terminate her employment was sound. An employee has to follow the policies of their employer – it’s the basic contract between employee and employer. I’ve left two positions when I couldn’t agree with the policies of my employer.
One guy I worked for wanted me to install new network cards for a customer which was unnecessary because I had discovered how to make their existing ones work. The customer had agreed to purchase new cards upon being advised that they had incompatible hardware. My employer didn’t want to lose his sale and so when I refused to install new network cards, he terminated me. However, if he had followed my advice the customer would have been very impressed by his honesty and his loyalty would have increased. He lost the customer anyway, because I contacted the customer and told them that my former employer was fraudulently selling them and I got hired by the customer on the spot to sort them out.
Some years later I was working in a sales position for a local ISP which was selling “business class” dial up connections for about 4 times the standard rate. When I refused to sell his overpriced Internet accounts, he terminated me too. That same year, I found another ISP product to sell which sold very well.
So, it’s really all about finding the right people to work for. This woman should look for a company that shares her religious beliefs about Christmas, or a company where it doesn’t matter how you greet people over the Christmas season.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Kim, for me this is ridiculous, but I must agree with Richard, when we take a job we do so by agreeing to abide by the policies of the company. And nowadays there is usually a sentence right above the dotted line we sign on that basically says, the employer can fire an employee for literally anything! This is a case in point.
What if saying Merry Christmas infringed on the boss’s religious beliefs? Then it is employer vs. employee. I don’t think it is hard to guess who wins that one. Any job we take has the potential to go against something in our belief system. Most times we overlook those things and justify it by saying we have to have a job to live. Congrats to you Richard for standing up for your beliefs and leaving. I wasn’t as stong.
I had a boss that would write articles and put quotes in for me that I never said. I didn’t leave right away and ended up getting laid off but I was looking for another job. That is blatant lying.
In this case, the boss didn’t have to do this and he certainly didn’t have to be so mean when she was exiting.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Hey Richard and Kathy, I understand that, at the end of the day, as boss, he had THE right to fire her because she did not adhere to policy. But, man, was he WRONG for doing it the way he did it! I mean, I’m sure she really didn’t mean any malicious intent by wishing others a Merry Christmas. My goodness, that’s saying, have a good Christmas, right? That IS the official name of the holiday. To me, this is so wrong in so many ways!
December 30th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Personal morals versus the almighty dollar! The suggestion Kathy made could mean there is more to this story. What if “Merry Christmas” went against the employer’s beliefs? If so, why would he/she keep someone around who is going against orders AND against personal beliefs? I would fire them on the spot too.
Why does Christmas exist? That is a question that should be asked at the beginning and throughout every holiday season. For those who don’t believe, but still have a tree, give gifts and even profit from the season – that is kind of hypocritical isn’t it?
December 30th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Oh, to bring your personal beliefs into it! That’s very touchy. In that case, that means it’s okay to hire or fire someone because the person who’s doing it feels justified because it falls in line with their personal belief. Can we say discrimination? Think about it. That’s the same philiosphy people use when they don’t want to rent to someone of color. Or for that matter, serve you in a restaurant because you’re Black. When it pertains to someone in a position of power, I think personal beliefs need to fall to the wayside.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:15 am
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December 30th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Richard,
A honest tech guy is as hard to find as an honest mechanic. I applaud you for keeping the customers best interest as your first priority. I really don’t know why people haven’t learned that word of mouth can be amazing or devastating, its up to them. Treat your customers right and you’ll find yourself with loyal customers who spread the word about your products/services.
Ryan Kazinecs last blog post..Is Job Security Becoming More Significant Than Compensation and Benefits?
December 31st, 2008 at 6:57 am
I agree with you Kim but that is popcorn and pink shoelaces dreams. In the real world, no matter how we flip it, turn it, or look at it, personal feelings come into play in every aspect of life. It is a really big person that can totally remove their personality, feelings, and beliefs and deal with life completely objectively. I really don’t think such a person exist.
Actually, the employee did EXACTLY the same thing the employer did. She just didn’t have the power.
December 31st, 2008 at 7:02 am
Tom, that is a good question and year after year I tell myself, I am going to do better about treating Christmas the way it should be treated in regards to Christ and His birth. I have got to do better at that..
December 31st, 2008 at 8:21 am
Hmmm, I understand your point about it being the real world, BUT just because that’s how the world does it, doesn’t make it right, you know what I mean?
December 31st, 2008 at 8:23 am
Hey Ryan. I agree with you 100% that Word of Mouth is one of the BEST marketing tools we have. Not to mention that it’s free to use!
December 31st, 2008 at 9:30 am
I think this post is all about finding where you fit in life, who you fit with and how badly things can go when you stand on your principles. I’m all for standing for my principles and clearly this woman had as her principle that this holiday be recognised as Christmas, not some generic alternative.
I think a lot of Christians are more and more adopting this as their own principle as a stand against the secularisation of the Birth of Christ. Where I stay, a Jewish convert to Christianity is promoting a move to end using Santa Claus as a symbol of Christmas, saying it detracts from the central Christian message. I think when Christians adopted Santa Claus, they opened the door to the dilution of the message of Christmas.
Maybe that’s what Christians need to do on a wider scale – reject Santa Claus, and get back to celebrating the birth of Christ and nothing else?
Richard Cattos last blog post..Domain Name System (DNS) tweaks
December 31st, 2008 at 10:10 am
Yeah, I know what you mean. This is such an out of the ordinary thing to happen. Saying Merry Christmas is just standard.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:11 am
Hey Richard, I hate to admit it, but I am one of those Christians who have adopted the Santa Claus mentality. And you (and Tom) are absolutely correct that the focus needs to be re-directed at celebrating ONLY the birth of Christ. BTW, your comment is really good:–)