Burn a Quran, Lose Your Job

A N.J. Transit worker has been fired for burning a Quran in public on his day off.

The government agency claims that in burning the Quran, Derek Fenton violated the agency's ethics policy. Sounds pretty sketchy to me.

Fenton has a constitutional Free Speech right to express himself in this way. It is a jerky thing to do but what did it have to do with his job?

From the story:

"Mr. Fenton's public actions violated New Jersey Transit's code of ethics," an agency statement said.

"NJ Transit concluded that Mr. Fenton violated his trust as a state employee and therefore [he] was dismissed."

More discussion of this matter can be found at the Volokh Conspiracy.

It will be interesting to see what free speech and civil rights groups, if any, jump in to defend his right to express himself without being retaliated against by his employer.