Charlotte City fire investigator is out of a job because of a Facebook post in the aftermath of the Ferguson, Mo., riots, reports WFAE in Charlotte. It's the first time a Charlotte city employee has been fired over a posting on social media. An attorney for the investigator said the city overreached. City Manager Ron Carlee said it's essential the public is confident that city employees will treat all people with dignity and respect. He believes Crystal Eschert violated that confidence shortly after police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson.
Eschert is white. After a white person was shot near Ferguson, she wrote on her personal Facebook page: “Where is Obama? Where is Holder? Where is Al Sharpton? Where are Trayvon Martin's parents? Where are all the white guy supporters? So WHY is everyone MAKING it a racial issue?!? So tired of hearing it's a racial thing. If you are a thug and worthless to society, it's not race – You're just a waste no matter what religion, race or sex you are!” Eschert did not identify herself as a Charlotte employee, but she was fired in September after someone emailed the post to city officials. “I'm inclined to say the employee has a pretty strong case here, but when it comes to the government acting as an employer, the legal rules are quite vague,” said UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh.