The 911 call made by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman on the night he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is at the crux of the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into whether they will prosecute Zimmerman. There have been independent analyses of the call trying to discern whether Zimmerman uttered a racial epithet, to determine whether the shooting could be characterized as a hate crime. Now, an NBC producer has been fired for editing the call to make it seem as though Zimmerman told police that Martin was black without being prompted.
NBC Producer Fired Over Edited Trayvon Martin 911 Call As Neo-Nazis Begin Patrolling Sanford
ESPN Fires Writer Of Linsanely Racist Headline, Suspends Anchor
In reaction to the outrage caused by the linsanely racist headline "Chink In The Armor," ESPN announced this morning that they fired the employee responsible for the headline about Jeremy Lin, and suspended anchor Max Bretos, who said the phrase on-air this week, for 30 days. Bretos also apologized via Twitter: "Wanted 2 apologize 2 all those I have upset. Not done with any racial reference. Despite intention,phrase was inappropriate in this context...My wife is Asian, would never intentionally say anything to disrespect her and that community."
NYU Professor Claims He Was Fired For Giving James Franco A Bad Grade
Former NYU professor José Angel Santana (also pictured) claims he was fired from the university after giving super famous actor, professional student, and fellow NYU professor James Franco a "D" in his “Directing the Actor II” class. The low grade came after Franco missed 12 of the 14 classes while filming 127 Hours. Santana wants his job back, and has now filed a lawsuit against NYU in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Video: What Happens When A Ghostbuster Gets Fired?
In a world where the Ghostbusters have apparently branched out to other cities and towns, hiring more and more 'Busters to fight the good fight, things get competitive. And young Wendy here, who was continuously crossing her streams, eventually got fired. What's her next move? We won't spoil anything, but nothing good ever happens when Gary Jules's "Mad World" is in the soundtrack...
MTA Supervisor Fired For Getting His Unqualified, Ex-Con Son A Job
A highly paid, high-ranking supervisor with the MTA's Signals Division is under investigation for allegedly scoring a job in the department for his wholly unqualified and criminally-minded son. Patrick Sohan, 46, has been forced to resign and could face criminal charges after whistleblowers complained about the special treatment his son, also named Patrick, received. The elder Sohan, who got paid $122,263 a year to oversee signals for the entire subway system, allegedly filled out his son's application to the division and helped him fake his work history so he could get the job of signal maintainer, which paid $60K plus overtime.
Express Bus Ladies Man Gets Canned
In not-exactly-shocking news, Edward Meehan, the MTA bus driver who lied about using his sexy express bus to woo the ladies on the company clock, has been officially fired.
Charlie Sheen Gets Fired, Seeks Intern, Still Winning
Charlie Sheen can now officially spend all of his time on what matters most: building his sex palace, taking out trolls, something or other about warlocks, and Tweeting. According to TMZ, the actor was just fired from Two and a Half Men, and Warner Bros. has issued the following statement: "After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen's services, effective immediately." No word on whether or not the show will go back into production, Warner Bros. says a decision has not been made yet. This move will cost both WB and CBS a lot of money.
Is It Wrong To Fire Woman Who Trashed Boss on Facebook?
After numerous horror stories about people getting fired after posting something dumb on Facebook, most of the nation's employed have learned to save their office badmouthing for in-person rant sessions. But in a case that could set status updates everywhere free, the National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against the American Medical Response of Connecticut, after they fired an employee for bad-mouthing her boss on Facebook. Lafe Solomon, the board’s acting general counsel, told the Times, “Whether it takes place on Facebook or at the water cooler, it was employees talking jointly about working conditions, in this case about their supervisor, and they have a right to do that."
School Fires Volunteer Coach Over Mooning
After flashing the coaches of the Campus Magnet school a view of his rear end, Boys and Girls High School volunteer assistant coach William Miller (not Clive Harding, as originally reported) has been fired. "He's influencing children and he has to think about that," a Campus Magnet parent told the Daily News—as if high school kids hadn't already figured that one out. Miller mooned the opposing team's fans when they continued to heckle his team after the football game was called off. But since this seems like something Jets coach Rex Ryan would pull, Williams can at least rest easy knowing that he may be NFL material.
A Brief History of Hideous TV News Reporters
Last week, WPIX/Channel 11 reporter Vince DeMentri was fired after a slapping incident involving the Bahamian UN ambassador's chauffeur. As a result, he joins a long line of historically dumb news anchors who got fired (or worse) for poor behavior.
BREASTS: Woman Makes Headlines After Mag Fires Her for Flashing
[UPDATE BELOW] An unidentified woman says she was fired from Brides Magazine after showing coworkers the results of her breast augmentation surgery. The woman would speak to the press only on condition of anonymity, and we don't have any photos, so this image is for reference only. She claims that last month, at the request of two female colleagues, she closed the door to her office and proceeded to unbutton her blouse.
Secretary Laid Off After Getting Cancer, Lawsuit Alleges
A legal secretary is suing a midtown law firm for allegedly cutting her loose just hours after she revealed that she had a cancerous tumor. In October 2007, Theodora Benedict sent an e-mail informing her employers at Tarnow & Juvelier that doctors had diagnosed her with a rare tumor behind her sinuses, and she would have to miss a week for surgery and a week for recovery. But instead of "get well soon" cards, Benedict, 61, says she got the boot—two hours after clicking send.
Nets Fire Coach Frank As Loss Streak Record Looms
With the New Jersey Nets likely to tie the NBA's record of for most consecutive losses (17) at the start of the season tonight when they play the Los Angeles Lakers, the team has fired coach Lawrence Frank. ESPN reports that the team was going to fire Frank after the game, "Yet it appears that Nets management determined that it had to make the move before facing the Lakers after reports became more widespread that Frank's dismissal was imminent."
9/11 Chapel Arsonist Loses Job Offer
In what must be the least surprising news item of the day, the law firm that was planning on hiring Brian Schroeder — the 26-year-old Harvard Law School grad suspected of setting a fire in a chapel containing the remains of unidentified victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks — has revoked its offer. The firm Sidley Austin recanted on its decision to hire Schroeder, who turned himself in to police after setting a blaze on Saturday morning that destroyed flowers, photos, and other mementos inside Memorial Park on the corner of First Avenue and East 30th Street. According to cops, he set the fire on a drunk dare, but Schroeder's attorney claims the Texas native, who moved to New York to accept the law job, had been drugged.
Espada Fires Aide Accused of Slumlording
You know you must be pretty sleazy when your behavior makes State Senate scofflaw Pedro Espada, Jr. blush. Yesterday the esteemed Senator from Bronxchester abruptly fired his deputy chief of staff, Onix A. Sosa, after the Times confronted him about Sosa's past work managing 35 buildings in upper Manhattan and the Bronx with close to 7,400 unresolved violations, including 1,100 deemed immediately hazardous. That kind of thing doesn't fly in Espada's office, at least not once the press catches wind of it. In a statement, Espada said, "I was shocked and, quite frankly, blindsided by this revelation."
Arrested Pug Owner Fired Over Anti-Semitic Allegation
A Greenpoint woman's altercation with a police officer over carrying her sick dog through the subway has put her out of a job. To recap: Chrissie Brodigan, a VP for Online Media at Plum TV, says that after she argued with Officer Joel Witriol while trying to carry her pug out of the subway, he arrested her, grabbed her breasts, and punched her in the back while saying, "If you're going to act like a woman I'm going to treat you like a woman." Other witnesses corroborated Brodigan's account, but one witness and an unidentified source told the Post that Brodigan yelled at Witriol, the city's first Hasidic officer, "You f---ing Jew, you're not even human. Jewish people think they own everything."
Fired From Whole Foods Over Trash-Bound Tuna Fish Sandwich!
Out of 30 tuna fish sandwiches bound for the trash, 57-year-old Whole Foods employee Ralph Reese set aside one for himself, to be eaten at the end of his shift last November. But an unnamed supervisor at the Union Square supermarket (let's call him Inspector Javert) noticed the sandwich sitting on the deli counter and demanded to know why it wasn't on its way to a landfill. After Reese explained that he intended to eat it, Javert threw it out, and Reese was fired two days later, because, the company claims, he was essentially attempting to steal the sandwich; Whole Foods policy dictates that food cannot consumed by employees without being purchased.
Robotrain Putting Fear in L Train Conducters
It's not just paranoid Luddites who fear the sinister agenda of the new robotic L trains; train conductors, whom the MTA tried unsuccessfully to replace with robots, are still worried their jobs are in jeopardy. One "wild-eyed, grey-haired" conductor recently told Infrastructurist what he thinks of his new robot co-worker: "The last thing the public wants is to be stuck underground, getting mugged, with a robot conductor. People need people. I can call the cops, I can intervene. Last month I had to break up a knife fight. Well, I didn’t so much break it up but I called it in. A robot can’t do that." Another conductor struck a more fearful tone, "They could easily replace humans but don’t put my name next to it because I’ll be the first to lose my job to the robots. I’m definitely scared that could happen." Better hope the robots weren't reading your lips when you said that, foolish human! Sounds like someone better invest in some robot insurance.
Starbucks Baristas Protest in Union Square
About a dozen current and former Starbucks employees protested outside the Union Square Starbucks last night, demanding that management reinstate fired barista Sharon Bell. Managers say they terminated Bell last week because of tardiness and attendance issues, but she says its actually retaliation for her involvement in the Starbucks Workers Union. Two other fellow union members were also fired recently, though one was reinstated. In December, a National Labor Relations Board judge found the company guilty of union busting and ordered several employees reinstated with back wages. According to the Seattle PI, the court documents read "like a reality-TV script, revealing Starbucks baristas and managers yelling at each other, mishandling blenders and cursing." One incident at the East 9th Street Starbucks almost came to blows, with a barista telling a manager, "You can go f*** yourself, if you want to f*** me up, go ahead, I'm here."
Nat Hentoff's Last Village Voice Column Hits Stands Today
After this week, there's even less reason to touch the grimy handle of those ubiquitous Village Voice corner boxes: today is Nat Hentoff's last appearance in the increasingly irrelevant weekly. After fifty years spent doggedly exploring everything from music to human rights for the paper, the 83-year-old columnist was terminated just before New Year's Eve. But instead of using his last column to carpet Phoenix-based Village Voice Media with F-bombs, Hentoff has bowed out with class, looking back on his illustrious history with the Voice, and forward to his work as an author and syndicated columnist. And he promises to keep sticking it to the man by "putting on skunk suit at other garden parties, now that I've been excessed from the Voice...See you somewhere else. Finally, I'm grateful for the comments on the phone and the Web. It's like hearing my obituaries while I'm still here."
Village Voice Fires Nat Hentoff, Lynn Yaeger
Screw loyalty; after spending about a half century writing for the Village Voice, 83-year-old columnist Nat Hentoff got fired yesterday, along with Lynn Yaeger, a fashion writer who spent about 30 years at the Voice. Also terminated was Chloe A. Hilliard, who has worked there for two years. Happy New Year! Hentoff is widely regarded for his writing on music (particularly jazz) and his weekly diatribes on human rights and civil liberties issues, with a blistering emphasis in recent years on "the chief rapists of the Constitution since 9/11." Since being acquired by alt-weekly conglomerate New Times Media in 2005, the Voice has laid off about half of its staff, and staffer Tom Robbins tells the Times the Voice is having "serious advertising revenue problems"—which are sure to be solved by shitcanning great writers! Hentoff will continue writing a synidcated column for United Media and contribute to the Wall Street Journal. "I’m 83 and a half. You’d think they’d have let me go silently," he told the Times. "Fortunately, I’ve never been more productive."
Teen Model in Teacher Sex Scandal Blows Top!
A 19-year-old male model flew into a rage yesterday after a Daily News cover story sparked a media frenzy outside the Ozone Park home he shares with his 37-year-old lover, a former teacher who is suing the city for firing her over the affair. WCBS has video of the teen tantrum, which features Hugo Boss model Joshua Walter charging from the house in slippers, clapping his hands and yelling "Leave! Get the f--- outta here! Find someplace else to take pictures."
Teacher Sues City Over Firing For Dating Teen Model
A tenured second grade school teacher in Queens is suing to win her job back after being fired because her boyfriend/baby daddy was a high school student at one point in their relationship.
Knitting Factory Fires Nearly All Employees
As previously mentioned, the Knitting Factory will soon be moving from its current Leonard Street location to the old Luna Lounge in Williamsburg. The change will take place early next year, and the venue will have its last Manhattan night on New Year’s Eve. The NY Press is now reporting that "the whole staff—65 people in all—is losing their jobs." Well, not all of them; "two of the 65 staff members—both managers—are being kept on. According to the bartender, the staff was told in April that they were being laid off en masse when Jared Hoffman, who took over in 2002, was still looking at a space" and "wanted to start fresh." Allegedly there were letters stapled to the employee's checks that broke the news. One old booker at the venue said that it's Hoffman who “fucked it all up." Well, Hoffman was just axed as well, so maybe the Brooklyn space really will revive the KF name?
Teacher Fired for Calling Students Filthy Animals Speaks
The 10th grade schoolteacher who was fired for calling his students "filthy animals who belonged in a f---ing zoo" has opened up to the Daily News. Last week Steven Clarke's lawsuit against against the Education Department was thrown out, with Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Shafer ruling that the principal at the Global Enterprise Academy was justified in terminating Clarke because "he had verbally abused students."
Teacher Calls Students "Filthy Animals," Gets Fired
Tenth grade teacher and proud Cornell alum Steven Clarke (not pictured) lost his lawsuit against the Education Department yesterday. Clarke had been fired from his teaching fellowship at the Global Enterprise Academy in the Bronx after he told another teacher, in the presence of students, that, "My parents did not sacrifice for me to go to Cornell so I could take care of a bunch of animals." He then went on to describe the 10th-graders as "filthy animals who belonged in a f- - -ing zoo." Called on the carpet by the school's principal, Clarke refused to apologize, explaining that he was not speaking to the students directly, and that he was merely responding to one student's instruction to "get the f- - - out of my face." Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Shafer ruled that Clarke's termination was permissible because "he had verbally abused students."
New York's Richest Doorman Fired
Millionaire Richie Randazzo, the lotto-winning Park Avenue doorman who wanted to keep it real by keeping his job at the luxury condo, has been fired at last, the Post reports. Last week Randazzo told the tabloids that the management had been threatening to terminate him because he was "spending too much time outside the building." It continues to be a rough week for the blue collar playboy; on Monday news broke that his new bombshell girlfriend is charged with “promoting prostitution” at a Jersey strip club. But despite rumors that the strippers/hookers hated her, one dancer at the club defends Randazzo’s special lady friend: “They're just mad because she got the $5 million doorman. That's what they all dream about.”
Millionaire Doorman in Trouble at Work
Despite winning $5 million with the "Set for Life" scratch-off game last May, Park Avenue doorman Richie Randazzo is determined to keep his job, where he earns $40,000 a year plus tips. But his attempt to move into the building was stymied, and now he says the management is trying to fire him “for spending too much time outside the building and wearing short-sleeve shirts.” Randazzo tells the Post, "They are jealous. They're running [the apartment building] like the Gestapo. You're required to stand all the time. They want you to look like a soldier." Other unreasonable demands include opening doors and signing for deliveries.
Videos of the Day: The Mets Suck
The debacle of how the Mets handled firing Willie Randolph was Jon Stewart's first topic on last night's The Daily Show. Stewart, a loyal Mets fan, was not happy--video is above.
After Mets Win, Willie Randolph (and others) Fired
The rumors swirled viciously before the game. Willie Randolph was safe for at least the week, but some of his coaches would be fired shortly. Randolph and some of the coaches were about to be axed. There were even erroneous reports that Rick Peterson had been fired.

