Posted on 03/11/2006 6:38:04 AM PST by Hillarys Gate Cult
SAN DIEGO ---- A Vista woman suing her former employer for allegedly firing her for having a bumper sticker on her car touting progressive talk radio made the rounds Friday on national and local radio shows.
During interviews Friday, Linda Laroca said her former employer later told her the comment about the firing was a joke, and asked her back to work.
Laroca, alongside her attorneys, made her first public comments about the suit during an appearance on the Stacy Taylor show on KLSD, 1360 AM, a local affiliate of the progressive talk-radio network, Air America.
Laroca also spoke later in the day on two syndicated programs: the nationwide Ed Schultz show (a part of the Jones network) and Air America's national Randi Rhodes show, with Sam Seder filling in as a substitute host Friday.
Laroca alleges in her suit that her former manager spotted the bumper sticker advertising Air America, told Laroca she could be a member of al-Qaida, and fired her on the spot.
Laroca said Friday that the woman, Beverly Fath, called Laroca the Monday after the weekend incident to ask Laroca why she was not at work.
Laroca said that when she told Fath that she had thought the former manager had fired her two days prior, Fath allegedly told her that the comments about the firing had been in jest.
Asked if she had mistaken her former manager's alleged comments, Laroca told the North County Times she didn't believe the woman had been joking.
"If she was, I didn't take it that way," Laroca said. "She wasn't smiling."
The North County Times has been unable to locate Fath for comment, and no one answered the door Friday at a home thought to be Fath's residence.
Laroca had worked for the company, Irvine-based Advantage Sales and Marketing Inc., about three weeks before the alleged incident occurred on Oct. 8 ---- Laroca's 52nd birthday.
A phone call to the company was received with a "no comment," and the attorney believed to be representing the company has not returned phone calls from the North County Times.
After the radio interviews Friday ---- including nearly an hour on Taylor's talk show, Laroca said she was surprised at the media attention her suit has attracted.
"Not one thing in my head could expect something like this," Laroca said.
After his show Friday morning, Taylor said Laroca's story struck a chord with his listeners, and the vast majority of his callers Friday wanted to talk about Laroca.
"The whole oppression of speech and expression has been a big theme of the show," Taylor said.
In her suit, filed Feb. 21, Laroca charges that Fath asked her to meet up in a grocery store parking lot on a Saturday to hand off some paperwork.
During that brief encounter, the lawsuit asserts, Fath allegedly pointed to the sticker ---- the only one on Laroca's small white convertible ---- and called it "that Al Franken left-wing radical radio station."
The nationwide syndicated radio programming from Air America, which describes itself as "progressive entertainment talk radio," features such show hosts as comedian and author Al Franken.
Laroca's suit claims that Fath also told the woman she could be a member of al-Qaida, then allegedly followed up with, "I am going to just have to fire you."
The conversation, Laroca said Friday, ended on that note.
Laroca said she got into to her car after the incident and sat stunned for a few minutes.
"I stewed about it for days," Laroca said, adding that she later decided to call an attorney to see if the case had merit.
Laroca said that after Fath told her the comments were in jest, the company later invited Laroca in writing to return to work or face losing her job. Laroca said she did not respond.
Laroca's suit is seeking lost wages and damages for wrongful termination for violations of both public policy and the state labor code. She is also claiming state constitutional violations and emotional distress.
The California labor code prohibits employers from controlling or directing the political activities of employees.
Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.
Didn't one receive a bumper sticker and a little lunchbox type sack when you sent in $25 to help keep Err Amerika on the air? Ya know, like the PBS beg-a-thons!! AAR cannot be "sold", it has to have contributions like religious broadcasters and PBS do. A product that someone wants will have no trouble making a sale.
Right! As everyone knows, liberals have no sense of humor, so don't EVER try to joke with one!
from radio industry site AllAcess
Questions Arise About "Bumper Sticker Firing"
So, was a SAN DIEGO area woman really fired for having a CLEAR CHANNEL AIR AMERICA RADIO-affiliate Talk KLSD-A/SAN DIEGO bumper sticker on her car? That was the allegation by LINDA LAROCA last week as she made the rounds of liberal radio talk shows, but the NORTH COUNTY TIMES now reports that the woman's company says she was never fired and called to find out why she hadn't reported for work the day after the weekend incident.
LAROCA admits that her former manager at ADVANTAGE SALES AND MARKETING, BEVERLY FATH, made the call and told her that the comments criticizing her bumper sticker were made in jest; the company also sent LAROCA a letter reiterating that the comment "I am just going to have to fire you" was made as a joke and that LAROCA should return to work or lose her job, but LAROCA decided to file suit instead. LAROCA is suing for lost wages, wrongful termination damages, and emotional distress.
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