Whistle-blowing witch grounded by TSA
 

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/419595...s-us_business/

Airport security officer Carole Smith was fired from the TSA after a co-worker accused her of witchcraft and putting a hex on her car. Her termination also came after she complained about lax security. Investigative reporter Bill Dedman of msnbc.com has the story.

it's a video

Ridiculous! The ignorance is just astounding. OTOH, she hassled a lady carrying cash for no apparent reason, and deserves to be held legally accountable for that, but certainly not for her personal beliefs.

It reminds me of an equally idiotic incident that occurred a long time ago...

A practitioner of Black Magic, originally from Nigeria, used to work for me many years ago. He was a very nice gentleman and what I would consider a model employee.

One day, another employee approached me and said she was scared of working with him because she feared he would cast a spell on her. After determining that no threat of any kind had been made, directly or in an implied fashion, I asked her what type of spell she thought he was going to cast. She replied, in all seriousness that she thought he was going to make her feet point sideways and her head face backwards. I was at a loss for words.

Here is information that screeners are squeamish about touching passengers. Good news.

This was in 2009 before the new pat downs were instituted. Hopefully, more screeners are now even more squeamish about touching passengers.

Which brings me to another point: perhaps screeners are being extra aggressive in doing pat downs because they are, in fact, ashamed and embarrassed to be doing such and are taking it out on passengers. "I hate doing this so I'm going to make sure you hate it even more"?

But, if she's a witch, might she not have been practicing her religion?

The lessons here are simple. If you break the law, such that the lives of passengers might have been threatened - no firing. If you fail to perform the single obligatory expected of you (stopping WEI) - no firing. If you sexually assault passengers - no firing. If you try to "improve" the system without hiring the proper lobbyists - fired.

So the DHS fiasco is a literal witch hunt now?

/ Feels like the 1600's
// Not Wicca, but certainly in my blood

I'm betting she is paid all back pay, bonuses and damages plus being put back on the job.

And we Taxpayers are once again paying for TSA Screw-ups.

Well, there's a lot of tittle-tattle, and he said/she said in this story, at least in the version I just read at length currently posted at msn.com. Most of the time, my sympathy would be with the employee in such a case, especially an employee from an unpopular class -- middle-aged woman new to this work environment, unpopular religion. However, I used to be quite active in the New Age, and I never met a Wiccan/witch who couldn't cast a spell. So here's the thing...Someone calls herself witch yet doesn't know that witches do try to cast spells to improve their lives...just as Christians say prayers to try to improve their lives...am I going to believe that person is a real witch? Or does it give more credibility to the other woman's claim that she was threatening and throwing her weight around by claiming the name witch?

I honestly cannot tell from this story who is in the right here. I can tell that there's a piece of the puzzle missing. Probably everybody is in the wrong and has a terrible attitude.

Contrary to Smith's claim, Wicca is not just sitting in the hot tub tossing some rose petals around, any more than Christianity is just sitting around a tree with a lot of neon lights sprinkled on it...Witches do try to cast spells, and Christians do try to say prayers. Either way, maybe keep it to yourself if you're praying/working for your co-worker's car to break down. :cool: And if you are writing up your supervisors, you'd damn well better keep your nose clean; forget about showing up to work 8 minutes late. You can't keep everybody else to the letter of the law but expect special understanding yourself.

Drudge has linked the story.

I read this entire story. What shocks me the most is the behavior of the coworkers - with the broomstick comments and other immature remarks. It sounds like a high school group or a bunch of kids working at a fast food joint.

It's known common sense at ANY job or workplace to keep religious opinions to yourself. If I find over the water cooler that my coworker is a Mormon, Wiccan, Pentecostal or whatever - I might ask questions, but assume an overall attitude of respect towards their beliefs. (Which might be easier for me because I don't care and have no interest in converting anyone towards anything.)

I know zero details about Wicca, witchcraft and paganism. But through basic life experience, reading, and absorbing small anecdotes and stories over the years I know it's far different than cartoons or "Bewitched." Nobody runs around putting evil spells on other people or sacrificing what not in circles over big bonfires in the woods.

The fact that a group of coworkers adopts that attitudes towards another - in what is supposed to be a professional government job just shows the level of maturity and mentality displayed in the position.

It doesn't shock me. The small-mindedness of the vast majority of the population of this country will never shock me, I'm far too used to experiencing it. It does, however, disgust and frustrate me. These kind of attitudes are not peculiar to the TSA by any means. My girlfriend is pagan, and lives and works in the Deep South (Mississippi). She lives in fear of her safety (and even life) should any of her self-professed "christian" colleagues ever discover that fact. There have been several instances of non-christians being assaulted to the point of physical beatings at her place of work, a major manufacturer and defence contractor.

It was essentially bullying. I am surprised that many of the "supervisors" named in the report behaved in such ignorant, offensive and unprofessional behavior.

Her only offense is being "different". I don't know much about Wiccan either but if it is a religion recognized by the US military, then the TSA had better treat it with respect. Or shall everone pretend to be a Christian in the future just to get along with these co-workers?

The employee that should have been fired was the one who thought she was cured by a witch.

All due respect to high-school graduates, but these TSA employees came across as very uneducated. What's the minimum level of education level that's required to work as a TSA Supervisor?

It was the AFSD that fired her and under examination by the judge could not justify the action.

Want to be the AFSD has a degree?

Let me see if I can simplify this story down.

There is a TSO who has excellent performance on the metrics that actually matter and acceptable performance on hygiene factors, like showing up exactly on time every single day.

Someone finds out she practices a religion that's unusual and uncomfortable in rural New York.

They decide to find a way to have her fired so they can feel a little more comfortable.

It works.

Why is any of this surprising? It's remarkably similar to the attitude taken by TSA management toward a traveler with any sort of unusual (or usual) disability, body shape, or attitude.

Every story makes TSA management seem more like a gang of street thugs.

It makes TSA a culturally rancid, dysfunctional organization. The abuse starts with management, sours the TSOs, and adversely affects a couple of million passengers a day. Disgusting. :mad::mad::td:

TSA employees meeting the example shown by management.