Man Fired for Wearing ‘Mississippi Justice’ T-Shirt at Polling Station

A Mississippi man was fired from his job after he was photographed wearing a shirt with a Confederate flag, a noose, and the words “Mississippi Justice” while he was voting in the Midterm elections.

Clayton Hickey was fired from his EMT job at Regional One Health. The hospital said they were aware of the photo when contacted by a reporter, according to WMC Action News.

Regional One announced Hickey’s termination, saying, “All allegations of inappropriate behavior and violations of trust involving employees are reviewed and investigated. We take this process seriously and are committed to following all the necessary steps to verify the truth.”

After an investigation, the hospital fired the “employee in question.”

“Regional One Health holds employees to a high standard. We are committed to upholding our mission to provide compassionate care and exceptional services to all. This includes fostering a safe and protected work and care environment for all. Behaviors contrary to these principles are unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” the hospital said.

Hickey had worked as an officer in Memphis, Tennessee, until 2010 when he was caught with an underage girl and alcohol in his vehicle, WMC reported.

“He’s nice as far as I have seen,” one of Hickey’s neighbor’s was quoted as saying by WREG. “He came out and helped me do some stuff. I don’t think he’s wanting to start trouble. He gets caught in a lot of trouble.”

“He just gets caught in all the wrong situations,” a neighbor said of Hickey’s firing and the 2010 incident involving the girl and alcohol.

A neighbor also said that “it’s hard to say” whether the shirt is racist.

Local officials said Hickey didn’t break any laws.

“Well, I was shocked when I saw it, but there wasn’t anything we can do,” Election Commissioner Barry Chatham told Local Memphis.

“As far as I can tell the guy wearing the t-shirt wasn’t violating the law,” Chatham added. “We don’t have a law against wearing his expression.”

The whole statement from Regional Health reads:

“Regional One Health is committed to a safe, secure, and comfortable work environment for our patients, guests, employees and medical staff. All allegations of inappropriate behavior and violations of trust involving employees are reviewed and investigated. We take this process seriously and are committed to following all necessary steps to verify the truth.

On November 7, 2018, we became aware of a photo circulating on social media of an individual identified online as an employee of Regional One Health. The Regional One Health legal and human resources teams promptly began an investigation into this employee and to determine if these allegations were real and accurate. We understand and appreciate the intense feelings related to this situation, but it is our duty to perform a thorough due diligence to verify the truth.

As of today, November 8, 2018, we have completed our investigation and what we learned led to the termination of the employee in question. Regional One Health holds employees to a high standard. We are committed to upholding our mission to provide compassionate care and exceptional services to all. This includes fostering a safe and protected work and care environment for all. Behaviors contrary to these principles are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”