Man fired for being vegetarian

[begin_within]

A Long Island man says his ex-boss is a real beef jerky who fired him after deeming his vegetarianism to be "gay."

In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, former Calyon in the Americas trader Ryan Pacifico says he was mercilessly mocked, labeled "a homo" and canned for not eating meat.

"You don't even eat steak, dude. At what point in time did you realize you were gay?" the suit quotes beef-loving boss Robert Catalanello as saying.

"It was bizarre," said Pacifico, a married triathlete.

Story and photo at:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01292009/news/regionalnews/beef_at_gay_insult_152538.htm

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bunny]

3. That's messed up.

[petronius]

5. That boss is a serious jackass - if that company has any sense at all

they'll get rid of him before he burns the place down...

[Boojatta]

6. Does the boss ever eat "hot pot"?

(Also known as animal penis.)

We know that the fired vegetarian doesn't.

[TZ]

8. Well if that isn't discrimination

I don't know what is. What a fucking asshole.

[ReliantJ]

9. QFT

[madinmaryland]

12. ..

acronym??

[ReliantJ]

14. IDK

Quoted For Truth.

[KamaAina]

10. That is so vegetarian!

:P

[jobycom]

27. .

:spray:

[madinmaryland]

11. It's the NY Post. Go figure. Almost as bad as getting your news

from freerepublic.

:eyes:

[ThomCat]

31. I would be in line to bash them for their political coverage.

But what is your opinion on this story? :shrug:

Having been on the receiving end of similar abuse, it certainly seems like a legitimate story to me.

[madinmaryland]

45. Well, it's the NY Post.

They have shown themselves to essentially "inventing" stories. They can manage to take something and twist into something that is completely different than what actually what happened.

[ThomCat]

46. Okay, so because you said so, then obviously this never happend.

:shrug:

[jobycom]

55. I think his point was more that the NYP sensationlizes their stories beyond

what one would normally consider journalism. If someone came to the Post with a story like in the OP, the Post's research might not be as thorough and objective as a more reputable story. People who get fired from jobs sometimes come up with exaggerated stories about the firing. We had an employee once who was late twice a week, frequently failed to show up at all, and fell asleep at work, but when he was finally fired, after having been written up several times and given two final warnings, he claimed that the shop manager fired him because he beat him at dominoes too often.

So maybe the employee was fired by a bigoted and ignorant buffoon who hated him for vegetarianism (as a vegetarian, I've encountered some bizarre reactions, too, from time to time). Or maybe the employee was unreliable, and made up the story to help him collect unemployment or even sue him, or maybe the boss was an obtuse jerk AND the employee was unreliable. The problem is that a paper as unreliable as the Post doesn't inspire confidence in their integrity and research ability.

[yewberry]

51. Okay.

This is not the NY Post.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Man-Sues-After-Boss-Calls-Him-Vegetarian-Homo.html

[mwooldri]

62. The Onion seems to be more reliable than the NY Post. nt

[begin_within]

13. So I guess the boss doesn't support vegetarian marriage either.

[madinmaryland]

17. Does Rick Santorum support man-on-vegatable??

:puke:

[begin_within]

21. The only vegetable Santorum ever supported was

Terri Schiavo. Oops, I'm sorry.

[KamaAina]

41. He probably has this bumper sticker

[PVnRT]

61. Yep, soon people will be marrying cabbage and whatnot

[flvegan]

15. Glad I don't work for him.

[TZ]

16. I think this jerk should be glad you don't work for him

[ThomCat]

33. Me too. How much do you want to bet promotions are based

on kissing that boss's ass? People that petty in one area are often petty all around. And that's even with the vegan issue aside. :(

[no name no slogan]

18. Yeah, well, you know who else was a vegetarian?

Yeah, that's who.

[flvegan]

19. Deleted subthreads?

The reply count is correct. That can't be right.

[AlCzervik]

22. My post was deleted.

Reliantj is still going on my buddy list!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

24. He's on mine!

[ReliantJ]

47. I suppose

to the overly sensitive any joke would be viewed as hateful. God forbid we not be PC for one moment. And you wonder why...

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

54. "Wonder why" what?

I'd LOVE for you to explain that.

Are you trying to get more stuff deleted?

[ThomCat]

56. It got deleted because it deserved to get deleted.

Any joke that makes causal reference to gay men sucking dick is going to get deleted. That's not a matter of anyone being overly sensitive.

Don't dig a deeper hole. Let it die.

[Lil Missy]

66. Oh brother. I'm speechless.

:eyes:

[LostinVA]

57. "And you wonder why..." -- why don't you finish the hateful sentence?

Even though we all know what you're saying.

[Shakespeare]

58. Oh, poor you.

It was a nasty, homophobic post, and it deserved to be deleted. Thus, it was.

[AlCzervik]

60. Nice, that's a purty purty hole you're digging there.

[ReliantJ]

26. ...

:toast:

[ThomCat]

30. I'd love to know what you said.

:)

Please PM me if necessary.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

I'm a deleted sub-thread -- I didn't even get to see any replies to it

Basically, somebody posted something homophobic.

[begin_within]

23. I thought those first few comments were benign.

Guess the moderators have "sensitive" dialed up today.

[jobycom]

25. Yeah, those may have been more interesting than the story.

:shrug: I want that "Pay to view deleted messages" button now...

[Boojatta]

42. That could be a very effective fund-raising technique for DU.

:thumbsup:

[Lost in CT]

63. In this case I agree... muy curious....

[hippywife]

20. Oh, for christ sake!

it's the fucking NY Post. No better than tabloids in the grocery checkout. :eyes:

[ThomCat]

29. This is definitely a tabloid story. But if you are a vegetarian

then this is definitely a story to pay attention to. This happens all too often. As I posted, I am been at the receiving end of this kind of abuse because I'm a vegan, and I know others who have been too. It's not that uncommon when eating meat is considered manly.

[hippywife]

32. Considering the source,

I tend to disbelieve it's actually true. Now if a legit news source carried it, that might be different.

[ThomCat]

34. If they are reporting that a suit was filed

then it was. They don't make up public information like that. They'd get chewed up in the NY market if they did. Like them or not, they are one of the major NYC newspapers.

[Boojatta]

43. "eating meat is considered manly"

Well, it's dogly. I'm not sure that it's manly.

[ThomCat]

44. I don't know if you're serious or just trying to argue and play devil's advocate

to cause trouble. Knowing your history it could be either.

But, assuming you're serious: Meat is definitely considered a "manly" food to eat. Eating steak, compared to eating salad, for example, have vastly different values on any scale of typical "manliness."

Some guys often joke about hunting it down, ripping it open, and eating it raw. Rarh!

Get a guy talking about their favorite restaurants in NYC and it's almost always a steak house. Period.

Results vary, of course. Nothing is universal. But meat is definitely generally considered manly, and that is definitely true in certain cultures here in NYC. I've encountered it repeatedly in corporate culture here in NYC.

I've also encountered it every time I go back home to redneck country, where you might expect it.

[Boojatta]

59. "Knowing your history it could be either."

I have a history? When did this happen and why wasn't I notified?

[ThomCat]

28. I got similar shit from coworkers.

Fortunately, not from my boss.

Though he did insist on having our company dinners at a steakhouse. So I sat there and watched them get to eat. But my job was never at stake, and he didn't participate in the mocking.

I've often said, for all the times I've heard that vegetarians supposedly get pushy about our diets, in my experience it's almost always the defensive and "joking" meat-eaters who are the pushy ones.

Every vegetarian and vegan I've ever hung out with has been quiet in public about our diets. But as soon as people find out, we all have horror stories.

[flvegan]

35. The three jobs I've had since going vegan were good experiences.

Some of the folks thought it an odd choice, but management always went out of their way to see that I (and the other veggies that surfaced) were taken care of. Matter of fact, on pizza days my fellow vegan and I would get a call 10 mins prior to the party to go in and get our veggie slices first, because that was usually the first couple pizzas to go.

I know I'm likely in the minority on that one, but I'm thankful for it.

[ThomCat]

38. I wish more companies had that kind of good behavior.

Maybe it's exaggerated here in New York City, like many things. It's definitely part of the hyper-masculine attitude in NY City culture, that's part of a backlash against the art scene and a lot of the subcultures.

The more NYC is supposed to embrace everyone, the more a whole lot of people dig in and hate everyone who's not a typical, "normal" person just like them, and they're proud of it.

[LeftyMom]

40. Same here.

I mean, obviously a non-issue at the last place, but everybody's been curious but really cool about it with me.

[dana_b]

49. I know what you mean

95% of the people I work with eat meat but for some reason when pizza becomes available, they always grab the veggie first.
We also have premade sandwiches from catering (I work at a hospital)and my boss is nice enough to ensure that mine and my co-workers (who is a vegan) have our names put on the veggie sandwiches otherwise they would be taken.

[dana_b]

50. that's cold

he could get steak at other places that serve veggie options too. too mean.

I have had an ex boss of mine question me as to why I'm a vegetarian and when I told her she started to get almost accusatory. "Well do you buy leather?" "Why do you eat cheese then" and on and on. I wanted to ask her why she drank a liter of diet Pepsi a day but is still fat. Of course I decided that keeping my job was a much better idea.

[DarkTirade]

52. Somehow I read that line as 'job was at steak' and I thought you were going for a pun.

Had to reread it to notice that you weren't. But apparently my subconscious was. :P

[Deja Q]

36. Bizarre indeed. Nonsensical, illogical, perhaps schizophrenic?

[nomorenomore08]

37. Even as a meat-eater I don't understand this at all. "Bizarre" is a great way to put it.

Hassling people for not eating the same way as me just isn't something that would ever occur to me to do. It's like the literal version of the expression "What I eat don't make you shit."

[ThomCat]

39. I wish a whole lot more people thought like that.

:)

[applegrove]

48. How can someone be so in the dark? Who has never come across a vegetarian before?

[DarkTirade]

53. There's a fine line between friendly ribbing (no pun intended, considering the subject) and being an

asshole. If this is true, then that boss left that line in the dust a LONG time ago.

[WinkyDink]

64. Why do I think Boss Catalanello has watched too many "Soprano" episodes?

[Lost in CT]

65. Or two many Seinfeld episodes... remind me when George wouldn't eat the desert...

you know he had the suit that made that whooshing noise and Elaine was a mannequin ... God I depress myself sometimes... this is the shit I have filled my brain with.

[RedCloud]

67. I hope he gets a ton of money...

If not, the MSM will be saying "Where's the beef?"