A man working at the front gate of a Florence, Kentucky, stadium said he was fired after he paused while taking tickets to salute during the national anthem Saturday night, but the stadium owner has spoke up over what he called a “smear campaign” and said he never fired the man.
“The owner, who happened to be out there at the time, told us – me in particular – to continue to scan the tickets and I kind of just took my hat off, put it over my chest and offered him the scanner so he could continue to scan the tickets,” explained veteran Tom Aue, 69.
Aue said shortly after that, he was let go. However, stadium owner Clint Brown said he offered Aue to move to another, less crowded gate, but Aue simply refused.
“How can you be unhappy with somebody who takes a stand on wanting to salute the flag?” Brown questioned. “As a former military guy, I think that is exactly what he should be doing but the other side of the coin is the best business practice and the appropriate guideline for a business like ours to get a large crowd through a small hole pregame.”
Brown said they always have a rush of people trying to get into the stadium as the national anthem begins to play and it’s their policy for the gate workers to continue to scan tickets.
Still, Aue said he would like to “see somebody use some common sense and show a little bit more respect for what the flag and the national anthem stand for.”
Brown accused Aue and his daughter of trying to start a “smear campaign” against him, but he says he did nothing wrong. In fact, Brown said they like Aue as both a person and employee and want him back, but trying to make everyone happy is sometimes difficult.
Aue later acknowledged that Brown did offer him another position, but said he will not go back unless the policy is changed.
[ Fox Carolina ]
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