A local Librarian Writes A Book, Gets Fired for......Writing A Book - Polidicks

[quote]A librarian who wrote a fictional account of library patrons in a made-up town has been fired from her position at the[URL="http://library.public-libraries.org/Michigan/Ludington/MasonCountyDistrictLibrary.html"]Mason County, Mich., District Library[/URL]and is appealing the termination. [b]"The absolute irony is that the public library is a pillar of free speech and leads me to wonder why the administration is so upset. It's fiction,"[/b] Sally Stern-Hamilton told the Ludington Daily News. Over the course of three years, she wrote "The Library Diaries" under the pen name Ann Miketa. According to the newspaper report, the book is written as a series of vignettes about "mostly unsavory" characters in a library in a fictitious "Denialville." However, the book publisher used a small photograph of the Ludington Library on the cover, and in the book's introduction, "Ann Miketa" said, "After working at a public library in a small, rural Midwestern town (which I will refer to as Denialville, Michigan, thoughout this book) for 15 years, I have encountered strains and variations of crazy I didn't know existed in such significant portions of our population." She was notified of her dismissal in a letter from District Library Director Robert Dickson, when he referred to a prior "Suspension Pending Investigation" letter he wrote. In that, he stated, "The cover of your book includes a picture of the Ludington Library. Each chapter is devoted to a specific library patron or patrons. Your book portrays these people in a very unflattering manner. You describe individual patrons as mentally ill, mentally incompetent, unintelligent, and unattractive. You label several as 'perverts.' While you stop short of naming the individuals you targeted in your book, your detailed descriptions of their unique characteristics and mannerisms make them easily identifiable in our small community." Stern-Hamilton told the newspaper the book draws on her personal experiences but remains fiction. "Most writers, anyone who writes something, some of it's going to come from, be rooted in, your personal experience. I don't think I could have come up with (the characters) on my own. They're bizarre, idiosyncratic, so they are based on some real experiences, but of course there are embellishments," she told the newspaper. The library picture was just "a great picture," she said. "It epitomizes the American idea of a library." She doesn't know how Dickson became aware of the book but said she wrote it because of "what goes on in public libraries everywhere." She specifically cited instances of known sex offenders using library computers to view pornography – "Sometimes in close proximity to children," the report said. The publisher, Publish America, is a grass-roots group that publishes "people who are unknown, without charging the person thousands of dollars some self publishers charge," Stern-Hamilton said. On the Ludington Daily News comment page, a reader wrote, "Instead of taking pride in a local author, we are criticizing her work of FICTION? What happened to free speech?"[/quote] Read more:[URL="http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=72228#ixzz1VuchUZpa"]Librarian writes tell-all book, gets fired[/URL][URL="http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=72228#ixzz1VuchUZpa"]http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=72228#ixzz1VuchUZpa I[/URL] know this article is old but me and my friends where talking about this and I thought it should be brought up for discussion on here. I live in Ludington and let me tell you that it really is "Denialville" and there are some very fucked up people in my town. Anyways, I really think this is a violation of this woman's free speech rights.

Companies can fire for any reason. My brother was fired for going out the back door after a long shift at Mcdonald's.

It's fiction but from what I see, there's a lot of ties between the book and the actual town she's in. Either way, I don't see it as a valid reason for termination. Whole point of free speech is to criticize those who need it, and they fired her for doing exactly that through that book.

[QUOTE=zombini;31910317]Companies can fire for any reason. My brother was fired for going out the back door after a long shift at Mcdonald's.[/QUOTE] Pretty much. The reality of US law is the companies can do whatever the fuck they want and fire you at any time for any reason. They don't even have to give a reason, and there's nothing you can do about it.

[QUOTE=zombini;31910317]Companies can fire for any reason. My brother was fired for going out the back door after a long shift at Mcdonald's.[/QUOTE] Well there's two sides to every story and this thread title is quite (extremely) misleading because they actually do state the reason why she was fired. [quote]In that, he stated, "The cover of your book includes a picture of the Ludington Library. Each chapter is devoted to a specific library patron or patrons. Your book portrays these people in a very unflattering manner. You describe individual patrons as mentally ill, mentally incompetent, unintelligent, and unattractive. You label several as 'perverts.' While you stop short of naming the individuals you targeted in your book, your detailed descriptions of their unique characteristics and mannerisms make them easily identifiable in our small community."[/quote] Sounds to me like she basically wrote a "i hate my fucking job" story and insulted her library patrons (or "customers" if you will). Insulting your customers and guests at your job is usually grounds for termination. I don't see what's so out of the ordinary here. When you get employed you usually sign papers that say you are employed at will and can be terminated at any time and for any reason by your employer. You wouldn't go in to work tomorrow and tell your boss to fuck off and insult all the customers, then complain about free speech when you get fired would you? No, that would be moronic, and that's more or less what this lady is doing.

[QUOTE=zombini;31910317]Companies can fire for any reason. My brother was fired for going out the back door after a long shift at Mcdonald's.[/QUOTE] he got fired because using the back door for reasons other than emergency exit or taking out the trash is a safety violation, because potentially robbers can come in through that door where there is less security. the reality of U.S. law is that you can be fired for just about anything[I] if you aren't unionized.[/I] your brother messed up and gave them a reason to fire him anyway.

Some states like New York have some sort of law protecting workers from being s unjustly fired for the most frivolous of things

umm a public library isnt a company, its funded by the county or state.

[QUOTE=yawmwen;31912485]umm a public library isnt a company, its funded by the county or state.[/QUOTE] My point exactly.

[QUOTE=zombini;31910317]Companies can fire for any reason. My brother was fired for going out the back door after a long shift at Mcdonald's.[/QUOTE] US sounds like it has shit labour laws

[QUOTE=zombini;31910317]Companies can fire for any reason. My brother was fired for going out the back door after a long shift at Mcdonald's.[/QUOTE] Sucks to be American. [editline]25th August 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Zeke129;31920679]US sounds like it has shit labour laws[/QUOTE] It does.

If she's working in the town library then she's a public servant. You can't go around insulting the public you serve and expect to keep your job unless you're a cop. She ain't a cop.

[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;31921804]If she's working in the town library then she's a public servant. You can't go around insulting the public you serve and expect to keep your job unless you're a cop. She ain't a cop.[/QUOTE] So civil servants can never talk about other people in a negative tone, EVER? Wow I hope you don't really believe that.

[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;31921804]If she's working in the town library then she's a public servant. You can't go around insulting the public you serve and expect to keep your job unless you're a cop. She ain't a cop.[/QUOTE] theres a thing called freedom of speech

[QUOTE=yawmwen;31922056]theres a thing called freedom of speech[/QUOTE] I don't agree with the termination, but how is this in violation of free speech? The book was still published.

[quote] She specifically cited instances of known sex offenders using library computers to view pornography – "Sometimes in close proximity to children," the report said.[/quote] How about reporting those fucktards to your superiors instead? [quote]"Instead of taking pride in a local author, we are criticizing her work of FICTION? What happened to free speech?"[/quote] You heard it here first folks, criticizing somebody for what they say or do is now impeding freedom of speech!

[QUOTE=5killer;31922180]I don't agree with the termination, but how is this in violation of free speech? The book was still published.[/QUOTE] That she was fired for using her freedom of speech, in this case to write a book.

I know this is Sensationalist Headlines now and all, but do you have a source for this that isn't World Net Daily?

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;31922193]How about reporting those fucktards to your superiors instead? You heard it here first folks, criticizing somebody for what they say or do is now impeding freedom of speech![/QUOTE] They were her superiors :v:

[QUOTE=5killer;31922180]I don't agree with the termination, but how is this in violation of free speech? The book was still published.[/QUOTE] because the government cant punish someone for using their civil liberties without due process of law. its like if the government arrested you after saying "the government sucks!" you still got to say the words, but now your in jail

[QUOTE=Van-man;31922207]That she was fired for using her freedom of speech, in this case to write a book.[/QUOTE] Show me where the state actually restricted her from writing the book.

[QUOTE=Miskav;31922215]They were her superiors :v:[/QUOTE] Then she was being insubordinate.

Also, [quote] Speech in the role of the employee Statements made by public employees pursuant to their official duties are not protected by the First Amendment from employer discipline as per the case of Garcetti v. Ceballos. This applies also to private contractors that have the government as a client. The First Amendment only protects employees from government employers albeit only when speaking publicly outside their official duties in the public interest Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. Speech is not protected from private sector disciplinary action[/quote]

[quote]In that, he stated, "The cover of your book includes a picture of the Ludington Library. Each chapter is devoted to a specific library patron or patrons. Your book portrays these people in a very unflattering manner. You describe individual patrons as mentally ill, mentally incompetent, unintelligent, and unattractive. You label several as 'perverts.' While you stop short of naming the individuals you targeted in your book, your detailed descriptions of their unique characteristics and mannerisms make them easily identifiable in our small community."[/quote] Sounds to me like he just insulted his whole town.

[QUOTE=5killer;31922361]Also,[/QUOTE] from case brief of garcetti v. ceballos [quote]Should a public employee's purely job-related speech, expressed strictly pursuant to the duties of employment, be protected by the First Amendment simply because it touched on a matter of public concern, or must the speech also be engaged in "as a citizen?" [/quote] according to the writer it is a fictional book, with a fictional librarian, and is hardly "strictly pursuant to the duties of employment"

[QUOTE=zombini;31910317]Companies can fire for any reason. My brother was fired for going out the back door after a long shift at Mcdonald's.[/QUOTE] It's against the law to fire someone unjustly. You can take them to court over it.

[QUOTE=yawmwen;31922612]from case brief of garcetti v. ceballos according to the writer it is a fictional book, with a fictional librarian, and is hardly "strictly pursuant to the duties of employment"[/QUOTE] The fictional part does get hammered down a bit by way of this: [quote] "After working at a public library in a small, rural Midwestern town (which I will refer to as Denialville, Michigan, thoughout this book) for 15 years, I have encountered strains and variations of crazy I didn't know existed in such significant portions of our population."[/quote] [quote]I don't think I could have come up with (the characters) on my own. They're bizarre, idiosyncratic, so they are based on some real experiences, but of course there are embellishments,"[/quote] This sounds more like a woman who made a book that was fairly heavily inspired by some of the patrons.

[QUOTE=Amplar;31922945]It's against the law to fire someone unjustly. You can take them to court over it.[/QUOTE] No it isn't. It is said in hundreds of threads but no one listens. If you are at-will employee, you can be fired for any reason, or no reason at all, except for obvious discriminatory firings. On the flip side however, you can leave at any time, and are not bound to the employer by anything.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;31922975]The fictional part does get hammered down a bit by way of this: This sounds more like a woman who made a book that was fairly heavily inspired by some of the patrons.[/QUOTE] If she didn't put that in, she might have had a chance.

Freedom, including specifically freedom of speech, is like anything else in that it comes with consequences. Yeah you can ridicule people all day long if you want to, even at work. But if there are repercussions then that is on you. Attempting to get her book banned, attempting to prevent her from writing the book- these are examples of them interfering with her free speech. Free speech does not mean you can say anything and never have to worry about paying a price for it.