The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Firefighter Fired Over Facebook Post of Virtual Firefighter Video
HATZEL VELA
WCSC 5
Reprinted with Permission
COLLETON COUNTY, SC - A Colleton County paramedic and firefighter was fired over a video he posted on Facebook.
Related
On February 11, Jason Brown was called into the director's office and questioned about the video he posted the previous night.
The Facebook post takes you to a YouTube-like site, where a video almost three minutes in length shows an exchange between two cartoon characters at a hospital.
One is a doctor, the other a paramedic.
In a letter of dismissal Brown provided, Colleton County Fire-Rescue Director Barry McRoy said, "You [Brown] displayed poor judgment in producing a derogatory video depicting a member of this department with a physician which is implied to be at Colleton Medical Center."
"There was no malicious attack to anybody involved personally or countywide or any certain department ever," said Brown, who spent two hours making what he described as a text-to-movie video.
On the web site xtranormal.com, you can create characters and even make them look like you. Users can type in a script and the cartoon-like character will say what you write.
"I'm not trying to make any doctor or any nurse look stupid," Brown said.
He said he wasn't even talking about Colleton Medical. He only used the name of a doctor who works at that hospital because he had recently seen him at a party.
It was supposed to be a funny, exaggerated and an almost unbelievable story of real life on-the-job experiences, Brown said.
"It's just general things that go on in the day-to-day business of us running calls within any fire department, any EMS," he added.
The dismissal letter also said, "This video has created an embarrassing situation for this department, our public image and the cooperative relationship we enjoy with Colleton Medical Center. It reflects poorly on you and Colleton County."
Brown appealed the decision, but his appeal was denied.
[See the rejection of appeal letter (pdf).]
Brown never meant any harm, he said.
"If I knew it was going to give me this much headache, I never would have made it in the first place," he added.
Brown said he was told his video was racist because the cartoon character playing the doctor role was African-American and during one of the exchanges the character said, "I don't want to lose my job and go back to being a janitor."
"That was never, ever in my actions or even thoughts when I made the video," Brown said.
When making the video, a black doctor was the only option offered, he added.
Getting fired was a little overboard, he said.
McRoy wouldn't give details about the Brown's firing because he said he couldn't discuss personnel matters.
But he said the Facebook incident wasn't the only reason Brown was fired.
Brown said he has never been seriously reprimanded and points to the dismissal letter as proof the Facebook post was the only reason he was fired.
If asked to take down the post, he would have done it and that would have been the end, he said.
Brown said after he was fired, he was escorted to the station where he returned all his gear, while two officers supervised him.
"I felt like a criminal," he said.
Prior to working at Colleton County Fire-Rescue for three and a half years, he worked at Berkeley County EMS and Goose Creek City Fire.
He said he left those two places because Colleton County paid more.
WCSC 5
Reprinted with Permission
COLLETON COUNTY, SC - A Colleton County paramedic and firefighter was fired over a video he posted on Facebook.
Related
- Colleton County Disciplinary Policy
- Brown's termination Letter
- Rejection Appeal Letter
- STATTer911: Watch Out, This Could Be a Firing Offense
The Facebook post takes you to a YouTube-like site, where a video almost three minutes in length shows an exchange between two cartoon characters at a hospital.
One is a doctor, the other a paramedic.
In a letter of dismissal Brown provided, Colleton County Fire-Rescue Director Barry McRoy said, "You [Brown] displayed poor judgment in producing a derogatory video depicting a member of this department with a physician which is implied to be at Colleton Medical Center."
"There was no malicious attack to anybody involved personally or countywide or any certain department ever," said Brown, who spent two hours making what he described as a text-to-movie video.
On the web site xtranormal.com, you can create characters and even make them look like you. Users can type in a script and the cartoon-like character will say what you write.
"I'm not trying to make any doctor or any nurse look stupid," Brown said.
He said he wasn't even talking about Colleton Medical. He only used the name of a doctor who works at that hospital because he had recently seen him at a party.
It was supposed to be a funny, exaggerated and an almost unbelievable story of real life on-the-job experiences, Brown said.
"It's just general things that go on in the day-to-day business of us running calls within any fire department, any EMS," he added.
The dismissal letter also said, "This video has created an embarrassing situation for this department, our public image and the cooperative relationship we enjoy with Colleton Medical Center. It reflects poorly on you and Colleton County."
Brown appealed the decision, but his appeal was denied.
[See the rejection of appeal letter (pdf).]
Brown never meant any harm, he said.
"If I knew it was going to give me this much headache, I never would have made it in the first place," he added.
Brown said he was told his video was racist because the cartoon character playing the doctor role was African-American and during one of the exchanges the character said, "I don't want to lose my job and go back to being a janitor."
"That was never, ever in my actions or even thoughts when I made the video," Brown said.
When making the video, a black doctor was the only option offered, he added.
Getting fired was a little overboard, he said.
McRoy wouldn't give details about the Brown's firing because he said he couldn't discuss personnel matters.
But he said the Facebook incident wasn't the only reason Brown was fired.
Brown said he has never been seriously reprimanded and points to the dismissal letter as proof the Facebook post was the only reason he was fired.
If asked to take down the post, he would have done it and that would have been the end, he said.
Brown said after he was fired, he was escorted to the station where he returned all his gear, while two officers supervised him.
"I felt like a criminal," he said.
Prior to working at Colleton County Fire-Rescue for three and a half years, he worked at Berkeley County EMS and Goose Creek City Fire.
He said he left those two places because Colleton County paid more.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
-
I'm with ya' on this one Ben. There's nothing anonymous about a Facebook account and to use the Dr's real name is a lawsuit waiting to happen....
-
Permalink Reply by Greenman on
-
A lot of Parodies, if taken literally, could be interpreted as slander or libel, but parody is a protected form of speech.
If parodies of people were taken literally, then most if not all professional comedians in America would be guilty of libel.
This was obviously a work of parody and did not identify any particular physician as the "offending physician" in the animation. This animation came across to me as a parody of many stories of E.R. personnel I've heard a thousand times in my career.
If this is libel, then the producers of shows like Saturday Night Live and South Park would also be guilty of libel and not producers of social commentary and witty parody.
After much consideration on this topic over the last couple of days, I really believe that FF Brown did nothing wrong and that his employer was in the wrong for firing him. Their firing action over a protected form of speech, produced during FF Brown's personal time, crosses the line from "maintaining harmonious relationships" to censorship by Colleton County.
I hope FF Brown finds a good lawyer, perhaps the ACLU will help him, and he wins a nice big law suit for wrongful termination, to send a message to other government employers that you cannot fire employees for exercising protected forms of speech in their off-duty time.
It is only libel if the work was produced "with actual malice" as upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. I do not see how there was any "actual malice" in this case since the "offending doctor" was NOT identified as being any particular individual, nor was the hospital identified as any particular hospital. Many parodies on television make much more direct links to places and people without being considered libel.
When I played this animation for my wife, just as the clip ended EMS tones dropped in our county for, "an elderly woman who's been feeling ill for the last several days." My wife Burst out laughing at the coincidence. She interpreted the video as a commentary on doctors who don't want to deal with "habitual patients" and leave them for the paramedics to deal with, rather than an incompetent doctor.
Sometimes you need to get the perspective of the lay-person, and not someone in the Fire/EMS field in these cases. Since a wrongful-termination suit would be decided by lay-people and not by Fire/EMS/Emergency Room Doctors, I think their perspective is essential to this case.
Just my perspective.
Greenman
-
-
Art,
I'm not sure the medium is even an issue here.
What if FF Brown had drawn a four-panel cartoon on the same subject and published it in a newspaper?
The question here is whether the content is protected speech.
Greenman
-
-
If the "offending doctor" in the animation were wearing a name tag, or was in some other way identified as a particular individual, then perhaps it could be slander or libel.
As it stands neither the "offending doctor" character, nor the hospital are clearly identified, and this was clearly and exaggeration of reality, making it a parody - a protected form of free speech in the United States.
An employer does not have a right to terminate an employee for exercising protected speech during off-duty times, and off-premises. Since it is protected speech, which occurred off-premises, the employer is pretty immune to any libel suit which "someone" may file.
You said, "This issue has to do with the specific right of a fire-rescue department to protect its professional relationships with the local medical community from activities that could possibly be construed as slanderous." (my italics). If FF Brown were a spokesman for the Fire-Rescue Department, or was a PIO at an incident, then the department might be liable for any statements which "could be construed as slanderous," but FF Brown made his animation off-duty and off-premises, so he was not speaking on behalf of the Fire-Rescue Department so his parody is protected speech and the government - even in its role as an employer - cannot terminate an employee for exercising protected speech.
FF Brown did not drag his department into any kind of liability, but the department chose to insert itself into the situation.
Greenman
-
Permalink Reply by Michael Brittain on
-
I agree with Ralph Carr. When I read this I was thinking that there was one of two things happening here. Either 1, there is more to this guy than is in the article. Or 2, there has possibly been a lot of little things like that happening for that dept. and they decided that there needed to be an example.
Regardless, you can't just yell freedom of speech when you act like that. I had an instructor when I first got into the fire service tell us all that we are the "Last American Hero" and it seems truer every day. Acting like this even in "silliness" is really not acceptable.
I hope this guy is able to find another job in the service, but I also hope that this example is one that holds it's value. We are hero's and we need to act as such... on and off the clock.
-
Permalink Reply by Brian Dale Alderman on
-
I think that the department personal that used the slander about the ( African-American )should also be dissmied from their service for an EEO issues. They do not know what background that this charator is repersenting. Beside all Americans are Americans, The management and NEWS along with our elected officals need to quit labling people.
Also we need to think before we act. Just like when on the job what we do afacts others.
As usual management did not think frist there is a program that is used for this kind of situations ( Progressive Displine).
Or as another poster stated was there other issues.
By no means do I think what this kind of act should be conden, it makes us all look bad. Read your rules, know your rules.
Why use a name that you know, that can link to any certaint place?
-
-
Even if this was the latest incident and was the "straw that broke the camel's back," an employer cannot use an employee's use of protected speech as a reason to terminate him.
I read the termination letter, and the only thing cited in the termination letter was the animation he posted on his Facebook page. If this was indeed the last straw type of incident then clearly the employer should have cited a "pattern of misconduct" or similar language, which they did not; the Director of the Fire-Rescue Department focused solely on FF Brown's posting of his animation on Facebook.
You don't have to agree with others say, but they do have a right to express their opinions. The form and the medium of personal expression don't really matter; the fact that it is protected speech does.
This is different than if he had posted evidence of his wrong-doing (i.e. drunken party photos, skiing while on disability leave, etc...), which would be grounds for termination. This was one American expressing an honest opinion on his own time in the form of a parody, which is protected speech under the U.S. Constitution and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Greenman
-
Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
-
In terms of behavior, the "anything, everything, or nothing" comment applies.
Mr. Brown was fired for a behavior, not for being part of an EEO-protected minority.
-
-
He posted the video on a personal site in which he clearly identifies himself as a CCFR firefighter-paramedic. That gives the department an interest and a right to protect it.
He identified the physician by name well enough that the local firefighters and the physician were able to discern who he was talking about, and the firefighter even admitted that he used the doctor's name in the video, so there's no anonymity defense here.
Slander isn't protected speech.
FF Brown did indeed drag his department into a potential liability situation.
-
-
He only identified who his employer is, he never claimed to represent his employer's interested, nor did he represent himself as a spokesman for his employer.
When you post your opinion on Facebook, or even here on Firefighter nation, are you representing your employer, and his position, or are you representing yourself? If you post an opinion on here that your Chief disagrees with, will you accept a letter of termination because he didn't like your opinion and claims you exposed your department to legal liability by making your opinion known during your off-duty time? After all, you clearly identify yourself as a member of the Hilton Head Island Fire & Rescue Department.
There was nothing slanderous in the animation. Period. Had he said, " Doctor X neglected a patient on Superbowl Sunday 2010," and the had not in fact neglected a patient on Superbowl Sunday, THAT would be slanderous. Or if he made a statement as fact that Doctor X neglects his patients on a regular basis," when he does not, THAT would be slanderous. He never identifies the "Offending Doctor" character as any particular person.
He didn't use the "offending doctor" character's name at all. He referenced the "offending doctor" character's supervisor's name.
Again, if this video is slanderous/libelous, then the producers of South Park would have been sued many times over since they not only use people's names, but close likenesses of people in their parodies.
Just because you don't like someone's opinion, or the way they expressed it, does not make it slander.
Greenman
-
Permalink Reply by Joseph McMahon on
-
Ben, who would be slandered here? No county is named, no hospital is named, no fire department is named.
The only name I hear mentioned is a Dr. Ward (without any of the above identifiers), and I am quite sure I didn’t hear anything slanderous said about him.
So the fact that the firefighter had to be asked who it was he was talking about shows that after watching the video, it really wasn’t clear who it was that was being talked about. That seems to work in the firefighters favor to me.
The only other issue would be the inanimate, unidentified cartoon doctor character, and I’m pretty sure you can’t slander a cartoon character.
I think if we polled everyone, we would find that most people are upset about the “termination” aspect of this issue… the more we discuss this issue, the more sympathy the firefighter seems to be getting….
Joe
-
-
Ben,
I found these exceptions while researching the “at will employment” law in South Carolina. So, “if” he can prove that he was fired as a result of his employers’ efforts to suppress his freedom of speech, he might be able to get his job back? Is this how you interpret it?
Public-policy exception to at-will employment (South Carolina)
(1) the employer required the employee to violate a law or
(2) the reason for the termination was itself a violation of criminal law.
Joe
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
