Reporter fired for wearing Florida hat to Ark news conference

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Dayum!

 

Campus Rivalry

 

Wearing the wrong hat can cost you your job in Arkansas. Northwest Arkansas radio personality Renee Gork found that out Monday.

 

Gork, a Florida graduate, wore a hat of her alma mater to a news conference by Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino on Saturday.

 

Petrino commented on Gork's choice of headwear after answering a question she asked.

 

"And that will be the last question I answer with that hat on," Petrino said.

 

Gork, an on-air personality for Springdale radio station KAKS, which calls itself Hog Sports Radio, said she was fired Monday by the station.

 

"Was hoping to publicly apologize to coach Petrino and UA fans on the show today ... but I won't get that chance," Gork wrote on KAKS' Twitter account. "I've been fired."

 

KAKS general manager Dan Storrs was clear that loyalty to the home state was important.

 

"This radio station is Hog Sports Radio," he said. "We are very biased. We support the Razorbacks 100%."

 

[rawhide]

I can see a lawsuit pending. Why did they hire a UF grad then????? dfr's

[knapplc]

She won't have a leg to stand on. Arkansas is an At-Will state, and she can be fired for wearing that hat.

 

Funny thing - I use a Huskers/Sooners example to explain this to people when they question this law. Now I have something concrete to show them that you can be fired for dumb reasons like this.

 

In most every state we work at the will of our employer. Barring CBAs or other contracts, most anyone can be hired, fired, promoted, demoted, have their hours cut, wages cut, privileges cut, etc and there's not a thing they can do about it. It's the decision of the employer, and the employer alone.

 

EDIT - Well, she might have a leg to stand on. Arkansas modified their law to state that the employer must show cause for an indefinitely-termed employment, so if she had an open-ended employment with the station, she may be able to sue them. It'll be incumbent on the station to show cause, and it's possible that wearing the hat could be construed as intentionally aggravating the coach, thus jeopardizing the station's relationship with the team, etc, etc, etc. She'll have quite the uphill battle to fight, let's put it that way.

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

EDIT - Well, she might have a leg to stand on. Arkansas modified their law to state that the employer must show cause for an indefinitely-termed employment, so if she had an open-ended employment with the station, she may be able to sue them. It'll be incumbent on the station to show cause, and it's possible that wearing the hat could be construed as intentionally aggravating the coach, thus jeopardizing the station's relationship with the team, etc, etc, etc. She'll have quite the uphill battle to fight, let's put it that way.

Conversely, it may be an uphill battle for the school/coach to prove she was "intentionally aggravating the coach". I could understand if she was employed by the University but she wasn't. There are a lot of people in Oklahoma who wear something OTHER than Sooners/Cowboys stuff. I see a lot of UT, NU, KU, KSU, TTU, ND, etc but have never heard of someone being fired for it. I'm with rawhide on this one...I see a lawsuit pending

 

EDIT: Maybe AR Husker can give us some insight?

[fro daddy]

i wont even talk to someone wearing a KU hat....

 

If i could I would fire them from life.