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Man claims Wal-Mart fired him for not playing Santa
By BETH QUIMBY
Blethen Maine Newspapers Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 01/03/2008

SANFORD -- A Lebanon man alleges he was fired last month by the local Wal-Mart because he refused to dress up as the store's Santa Claus.

A spokesman for the retail giant denied the claim, which was filed this week with the Maine Human Rights Commission on behalf of 27-year-old Christopher Nolan.

In his complaint, Nolan said he thought it was a joke when he was asked on Dec. 8 to fill in as the store Santa Claus at the Wal-Mart on Main Street. He said his co-workers were laughing.

Nolan, who described himself as an atheist who does not believe in Christmas, said he laughed as well and then declined. "I said, 'Uh, no way,'" he said in an interview last month.

Nolan said he was surprised when his supervisor called him later to say he had an hour to change his mind. When Nolan again refused to don the Santa suit, he said, his boss brought him into his office and told him he was fired.

"He said, 'We have to do an exit interview,'" said Nolan, who said he worked at the store for three years, most recently as a bicycle assembler.

Nolan provided Blethen Maine Newspapers a copy of his exit interview form that was signed by the store manager and includes the following statement of termination from his supervisor: "Asked Chris several times to dress up as Santa Claus. Repeatly (sic) told me no and then said he would look for another job. Didn't listen to me at all. Told him I would take him out of the system."

Mandi Cotter, manager of the Sanford Wal-Mart, declined to comment on Nolan's allegation. John Simley, a spokesman at Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters, said the company "can't comment on the circumstances of an associate's termination." He added that the "facts as they're described are not true."

Nolan's lawyer, Chad Hansen, of the firm Peter Thompson & Associates of Portland, said he sent the complaint to the Maine Human Rights Commission on Monday.

Under Maine law, people alleging discrimination must file a complaint with the commission before filing a lawsuit.

The commission will assign an investigator to look into Nolan's allegation. The investigator will then issue a report for the full commission, which will then vote whether there are reasonable grounds to conclude that Nolan was discriminated against. It can take up to two years for the commission to decide whether Nolan's rights were violated.

After six months Nolan could also ask the commission for a "right-to-sue letter," allowing him to take his case to a Maine superior court. At that point the commission would stop its investigation.

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Reader comments

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Leon Richard of Farmington, ME
Jan 9, 2008 7:41 AM
Job description, shmob description. No contract? "Employee at will" baby. So long as you're not fired for reasons involving race, religion, national origin, sex, or discriminatory reasons, you can be fired anytime the management decides they don't want to see your face anymore. The only recourse you have is to file for unemployment.

Your "job description" has at the bottom of it, "any other duty or task at the discretion of the management". They all have the clause, or something similar to it. The lawyers won't let a job description out without one. Boss says, "Do this.", you do it or go home. The only exception is if it is illegal or unethical, and you're willing to take some time off in order to prove it, and maybe have to file a lawsuit and take your chances.report abuse
Peter Moulton of Roanoke, VA
Jan 4, 2008 7:17 PM
Dcshipman, your logic is faulty on many accounts. The first question you posed could easily be countered: "1. Did he receive more holiday pay than his peers by agreeing to pose as Santa Claus?" The other questions and points your raised seem to be irrelevant and off the mark. For example, in point 4, you suggest Mr. Nolan may have a history...of insubordination. Is that history documented and have appropriate steps been taken to eradicate the undesirable behavior? Have those corrective steps been documented? If not, then those presumed behaviorial flaws are moot. In point 5, you mention Mr. Nolan chose to work for a large company...(and so one) should have to associate with them. He was associated with them---he assembled the bicycles they purchased. That was his area of expertise. But consider this, in a published letter from H. Lee Scott, CEO and President of Wal-mart, (see link http://www.walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=518 )Wal-mart attempts to promote itself as a company that advocates diversity. If Mr. Nolan were of the Jewish or Muslim faith, would he still have been asked to wear the Santa Claus outfit? Would he still have been written up for failing to comply? Were any women asked to dress as Mrs. Claus? Were any petit or short employees coerced into dressing as elves? No, none of these is the case. As this case has been presented in the paper, Mr. Nolan was told he would have to dress as Santa---while his peers and managers stood around and laughed at him (presumably for his misfortune.) Laughing at a fellow co-worker is a form of harassment, if you're not aware, and it can certainly make one feel belittled or demeaned. Mr. Nolan probably felt singled out. This alone is grounds for a lawsuit. B/c a person chooses to work for a large company does not mean that he should be expected to shed his personal identity or values in the process---nor should the employee be expected to validate the belief system he asserts.report abuse
Meredith Springer of Peaks Island, ME
Jan 4, 2008 5:40 PM
I am disturbed by the personal attack of dcshipman on Mr. Nolan. Dcshipman apparently is primed to use standard cliches to attack nonconformists who attempt to assert their rights and he gives no indication that he has any personal knowledge beyond what is in the news story. The facts in the news story do not support what he says.

Also, I had a somewhat similar case, which ultimately was successful, before the Maine Human Rights Commission. I was impressed with the Commission's fairness and dedication to seeing that justice was done. My experience with the federal EEOC under the Bush administration was exactly the opposite, although I did interact with some supportive employees there.report abuse
carson of monmouth, ME
Jan 4, 2008 4:17 AM
WE THE PEOPLE MADE WALL-MART WHAT IT IS TODAY SO STOP CRYING. I REMEMBER WHEN THEY FIRST CAME TO MAINE,EVERY ONE THOUGHT THEY WERE GREAT. THEY DO HAVE LOWER PRICES THAN MOST STORES AND UNTIL I START MAKING MORE MONEY THAN I DO,I HAVE TO SHOP THERE.THINGS ARE MADE IN CHINA,WHAT ISN'T???? A PERSON CAN LOOK AT L L BEAN AND NOTICE HOW MANY OF THERE PRODUCTS ARE MADE IN THE U.S.A. CHECK IT OUT.report abuse

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