You Can’t be a Packers Fan in Chicago

A car salesman was fired Monday from his job at an Oak Lawn Chevrolet dealership for wearing a Packers tie to work. According to the Chicago Tribune, during a live interview on “The Dan Patrick Show,” a nationally syndicated sports talk program, John C. Stone said that when he showed up at work, general manager Jerry Roberts called him over to his office and told him he would be fired if he didn’t take off his tie. He said he thought Roberts was joking and went back to work.  

An hour later, according to the news report, Roberts came to the showroom floor and again demanded he take off the tie. When he didn’t, he was fired.  

Stone said he wore the tie at Webb Chevrolet one day after the Packers beat the Chicago Bears in the NFC championship game because he’s been a Packers fan since Ahman Green became a star running back for the Packers in 2000, and also in honor of his 91-year-old grandmother, a Packers fan who died this month. Stone said Roberts’ reasons for firing him were never made clear to him, nor did he get a chance to explain the tie’s emotional significance.  

Asked by a WGN news channel reporter if he’d fired Stone for wearing a Packer’s tie, Roberts said, “Correct.” Roberts noted the dealership had previously done promotions involving the Chicago Bears. “I don’t feel that it was appropriate for him to go directly in contrast with an advertising campaign that we spent a lot of money on,” he told WGN reporter Judie Garcia, according to the Tribune.