CEDAR CITY (ABC 4 News) - Two southern Utah employees -- who are supporters of President Barack Obama -- were fired this month from their jobs at a forensics company, the company's owner told the
Salt Lake Tribune.
The terminated workers were employed at Terry Lee Forensics -- a digital investigative and recovery service -- on a part-time, contract basis. Lee, the company's owner, said the two unidentified employees were discharged based largely on their sub-par performance -- not their support of President Obama.
"I implied that (they were let go for political reasons), sort of tongue-in-cheek, but there were other issues too," Lee told the Tribune. "They were not top performers."
Regardless, even if Lee had terminated the workers based on their political affiliations, that is not against the law. In Utah, non-government workers are employed "at-will," meaning it is their choice to work for an employer and they may be discharged at any time without cause and without notice. Terminating someone on the basis of political orientation is, however, a violation of state law if that person is a government employee.
Nonetheless, Lee might still be subject to a civil lawsuit from the terminated workers because firing someone due to their political views is considered unethical by some. It was not immediately clear whether the former employees will take legal action against Terry Lee Forensics.
The company, according to
its Facebook page, specializes in digital data recovery and cyber solutions. "Any aspects of digital forensics from Internet crimes to cyberstalking to child pornography. Is your spouse cheating on you? We can analyze your computer and see what has been taking place," the page reads. "We also recover deleted images from cameras and computers and erase hard drives in digital copiers for your company's safety."
According to the Tribune article, Lee Forensics also assists law enforcement in retrieval of digital information.
Lee added that business at his company has declined recently and that he needed to cut costs -- particularly due to the U.S.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," which has raised his taxes and operating costs.
The firings are the latest in a long line of incidents nationwide which have occurred directly as a result of President Obama's re-election. In Vernal, a smoothie shop owner has been charging Liberals more than Conservatives for their products. In Carbon County, more than 100 workers were laid off at the West Ridge coal mine the day after Obama's re-election.
