A former employee at a Hess gas station claims he was fired for being gay, and now he cannot find a new job because of the negative job reference.
Kenneth Rothwell, of Lehigh Valley, says his coworkers made anti-gay remarks, and he reported the incident to his supervisor. In that conversation, Rothwell told his supervisor he is gay, and that he took the remarks personally.
Soon after, Rothwell says he was transferred to a station in Pine Manor, in a rougher part of town—apparently in the hopes he would quit. When he stayed with the job, he was then fired, in September.
In Lee County, as in most of Florida, it is legal to fire someone for being gay. Non-discrimination clauses protect classes such as race, sex, and religion, but sexuality is not protected on the state level. (There are some cities, such as Miami Beach, that include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination clauses.) This is obviously a problem for people in Rothwell’s situation: now that he’s been fired from that job, he is legally required to report the incident when he applies for new jobs.
Commissioner Brian Bigelow, who is openly gay, has spoken up about the issue—what did he say? Read the story here: Fired from Hess for being gay
Filed under: Uncategorized
