Packer backer fired for wearing Green Bay tie

[HAMILROCK]

With Chicago reeling from Sunday’s painful playoff loss, Monday morning probably wasn’t the best time for car salesman John Stone to share his love for the Green Bay Packers with co-workers and customers.

But Stone, 34, proudly showed up for work at Webb Chevrolet in south suburban Oak Lawn wearing his green-and-yellow Packers necktie anyway.

Now he’s former car salesman John Stone.

The morning after the Chicago Bears’ hated rivals beat them at Soldier Field to advance to the Super Bowl, Webb’s general manager Jerry Roberts says he fired Stone for refusing to remove the Packers-branded tie.

The facts aren’t in dispute, only the appropriateness of the novelty neckwear.

“He said, ‘You have two options,’ ” a furious Stone said later Monday. “Remove the tie, or you’re fired.”

“When I didn’t, he said, ‘You can leave, you’re fired.’ Does that sound fair to you?”

Stone, a father of two who had worked at Webb Chevrolet for a month-and-a-half, grew up in Chicago’s Roseland community but said he’s supported the Packers since he first saw former running back Ahman Green play.

“I liked the way he played, and I liked Brett Favre before he left, and I love Aaron Rodgers, the coaching staff — the whole organization,” he said.

“I was just showing my love for my team and it was a nice, smart tie that matched my clothes — none of the customers minded: they had a sense of humor about it.”

Roberts agreed that no customers had complained about the tie when Stone was asked to remove it at 10:30 a.m., and that Stone was a good salesman who sold 14 cars last month.

But he said the tie was “salting the wounds” of Bears fans including himself and that it “makes it harder to sell cars in what’s already a competitive sales environment.”

“We spend $20,000 a month on advertising with the Bears on WBBM during the season, and we have Bears players including Corey Wootten driving loaner vehicles, and here was a salesman openly undoing that work.”

The deals with the Bears include Webb sponsoring the “Most Valuable Bear” award handed out after every game and a loaner vehicle for announcer Jeff Joniak, Roberts said.

Stone was offered five chances to take off the tie, but chose not to, he said, adding “If he loves the tie more than his job, he’s welcome to keep wearing it — elsewhere.”

For his part, Stone complains that he often wore the tie, which he bought three years ago at Wal-Mart, in his former job at a Dodge dealership.

But, said Roberts, context is everything. “If he’d worn the tie on Saturday I wouldn’t have minded.”

And what if the Bears had won?

“I suspect he wouldn’t have worn the tie.”

[HAMILROCK]

I smell lawsuit...

[NightCap424]

He'll get plenty of offers just based on the publicity.....

[cook county capper]

no lawsuit.
this guy is a joke, real family man to lose his job.
this dealership SPONSORS the Bears, how dumb could he really be.

The news crews went off on him for WANTING to lose his job.
This is the problem in our state.

Good OL' Oak Lawn!

[mrwho]

idiot, i can see if he didnt know to begin with but got a warning to remove the tie and still went through with it..this is a case of a guy prob thinking he can get some kinda easy money by suing so decided to go that route..

[cook county capper]

Originally Posted by NightCap424

He'll get plenty of offers just based on the publicity.....

your joking right?
a guy doesn't follow orientation, orders, and has an attitude.
walks out of his job.

this state has plenty of these.

he is getting riled on the news, he has a family, and walked out of his job.
real man there.

[SI5]

guy was looking to be a story

[HAMILROCK]

i'm on the salesman side...as long as there is no dress code in their handbook saying no GB ties, then I don't see a problem...don't care if the bears are sponsored by them...it's fu*king tie, would they fire him if GB lost and he still wore it?

[Sweetleaf22]

The dealership owner says he asked the salesman five times to remove the tie before canning him. (espn)


FIRST ATTEMPT:
Supervisor: "Please take that Packers tie off."

Salesman: "No."


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SECOND ATTEMPT:
Supervisor: "What do I have to do to get you out of your Packers tie today and into a new Bears tie?"

Salesman:"Ha. I see what you did there. But still no, thanks."


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THIRD ATTEMPT:
Supervisor: "Look, I'm not screwing around anymore. Take the tie off."

Salesman: "Or what? Are you going to fight me?"

Supervisor: "I'll do what I have to do."

Salesman: "Come on! Fight me! All I need to do is land one punch to your knee and you'll be down like Cutler."

Supervisor: "This doesn't have to get ugly."

Salesman: "Too late. I'm wearing a Green Bay Packers tie. It's plenty ugly."


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FOURTH ATTEMPT:
Supervisor: "This is your last warning. Take the tie off or I'm going to have to fire you. We have a relationship with the Bears. You can't be wearing a Packers tie here."

Salesman: "I'm pretty sure no one associated with the Bears is going to be coming into the dealership today. We don't sell hearses. Boom. Roasted."


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FIFTH ATTEMPT:
Supervisor: "Last chance. Take the tie off or you're fired."

Salesman: "No."

Supervisor: "Then you're fired. Hand over your ID badge and clean out your desk."

Salesman: "Are you serious?"

Supervisor: "One hundred percent serious. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to call Todd Collins and let him know that we're hiring after all."

[LordCC]

I think it is pretty classless to fire someone over wearing the opposition colors. Especially, since he was obviously one of the best sales man on the staff. I wouldn't be surprised if this all gets resolved shortly & business picks up because of the publicity it has gotten.

[NightCap424]

Are people forgetting the part about why he wore the tie??

It was a sentimental thing apparently....or so he says.

[Keith]

since there is a $20,000 a month relationship there, the boss has every right to ask the employee to remove the tie. This is not simply because the boss is a Bears fan. If it was, that would be different. And he has every right to fire the guy for insubordination once he refused to do so. Nobody would question the right to fire this guy if he showed up to work at his Chevy dealership job with a Ford shirt. Pretty similar circumstances if you ask me.

[PHILLYBIRDS20]

the salesman is borderline retarded. I have been doing sales almost 20 years and sales 101 is be vanilla. I woulnt buy a stick of gum from some guy wearing a cowgirls tie or a mets tie. y turn a potential buyer off before u even talk to him. Fired for stupidity

[revnecro1273]

was kind of feeling bad for the dude at first, but then read the entire article and well it is on him

[Dr. Jack]

The Illinois man fired on Monday for wearing a Green Bay Packers tie to work has already been offered another job.

Man fired for wearing Packers tie is offered new job - The Huddle: Football News from the NFL - USATODAY.com

A competing car dealership offered a job to John Stone, who was fired from his job as a car salesman on Monday because he refused to remove a Packers tie he said he was wearing in tribute to his late grandmother.


Guy Cesario, the boss at Chevrolet of Homewood, said he offered a new job to Stone.

"I think it's ridiculous, and I felt bad for the guy, because he doesn't deserve not to have a job," Cesario told the Chicago Tribune.

"Good salesmen are so hard to find…. To put somebody's livelihood in jeopardy because of a tie is just idiotic."