Fired for Voting Lawsuit Draws National Attention, Stirs Debate
A woman in Ohio has filed a lawsuit against her former employer claiming she was fired after it became known that she voted for President Obama.
Patricia Kunkle was an employee at Dayton-based Q-Mark, Inc., a defense contractor, and is suing its president and owner, Roberta Gentile. Kunkle is seeking $25,000 in damages in the suit that was filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
The suit claims that employees at Q-Mark, Inc. were repeatedly asked their political views and affiliation and before the election and were even threatened with termination should the President win re-election.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
There were many reports of employers around the country leading up to the election that had threatened to lay off workers should Obama win the White House, with most of the rhetoric aimed at Obama's poor economic record.
In Kunkle's lawsuit, she alleges that in the weeks leading up to the election, Gentile repeatedly warned employees that they would be terminated if Obama won.
The incumbent did win, and three days later Kunkle was fired and given the explanation that the company could not afford to keep her on.
"Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, taking it to the extreme of impairing somebody's career because they disagree with your political choices is just wrong," Karen Dunlevey, Kunkle's attorney, told The Dayton Daily News. "We're hoping that the court will recognize that and adopt a public policy exception for her."
But supporters backing Gentile claim that business leaders should not be targeted for trying to manage their business in the best possible way and that the political discussion that were known to take place was just harmless workplace banter.
"Ms. Kunkle was laid off for economic reasons – nothing more," Brian Wildermuth, Gentile's lawyer stated in a statement published in the Dayton Daily News.
"I am sure you and your readers are familiar with the ongoing uncertainties regarding defense spending, and thus the economic environment confronting defense contractors. The allegation that Q-Mark discharged Ms. Kunkle because of her vote is simply false," the lawyer added.
