Office Politics, or: Penney for Your Lawsuit

During the waning days of the '08 presidential election, a piece of Photoshop made the rounds featuring Barack Obama shining Sarah Palin's shoes. Collin County man Roger Baker, an eight-year J.C. Penney veteran at its Plano HQ, says he printed out the photo and taped it to a co-worker's computer...

By Robert Wilonsky

August 10, 2009

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During the waning days of the '08 presidential election, a piece of Photoshop made the rounds featuring Barack Obama shining Sarah Palin's shoes. Collin County man Roger Baker, an eight-year J.C. Penney veteran at its Plano HQ, says he printed out the photo and taped it to a co-worker's computer -- a colleague who he says was "part of a clique that engaged in banter concerning politics and the then-upcoming election." But someone yelled "sexual and inappropriate," and Baker was fired. The person who originally sent the photo was not.

At least, this is the tale Baker and his Dallas attorney offer in a complaint filed in Collin County District Court and posted to Courthouse News this morning. Baker's alleging that Penney used the photo as an excuse to fire him, when the truth is the company wanted to get rid of him due to a medical condition: Baker says he suffers from ulcerative colitis, which required his hospitalization and resulted in his superior labeling him a "drama queen," or so he alleges.

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