Police Sergeant Fired For Wearing Confederate Flag Underwear Gets Huge Payday staff April 17, 2020 Buzzworthy 1 A former police officer in North Charleston recently received $55,000 dollars from the city for wrongful termination after he was fired for a photo where he was seen wearing confederate underwear. The incident took place only 5 days after the tragic shooting at a Charleston church by Dylan Roof. Shannon Dildine did not get his job back but at least was given a nice payday. A former North Charleston police sergeant, who was fired for posting a photo of himself wearing Confederate flag underwear, settled a lawsuit with the city for $55,000. The state Insurance Reserve Fund will pay out $55,000 for former Sgt. Shannon Dildine’s wrongful termination claim in U.S. District Court, city attorney Brady Hair said Friday. The agreement came during a standard mediation process, Hair said. An Oct. 19 court order said the case would be dismissed once the settlement is finalized. A picture of the scantily clad Dildine, who is white, emerged on Facebook in June 2015, five days after nine black worshippers at Emanuel AME Church were slain by Dylann Roof, an avowed white supremacist who waved the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of his beliefs. The mass killing in Charleston ignited discussion about the banner, eventually leading to its removal from Statehouse grounds in Columbia. The officer will not get his job back with his police department. Former North Charleston Police Sgt. Shannon Dildine claimed, in a federal lawsuit, that he was wrongfully terminated when he was fired in 2015, according to The Post and Courier newspaper. Sgt. Dildine, who is white, posted a picture of himself wearing Confederate flag underwear in June of 2015. A supervisor remarked on the posting to Sgt. Dildine the next day, and he immediately deleted it. Sgt. Dildine told supervisors he “did not believe the Confederate flag was a symbol of hate,” according to the lawsuit. “Instead, he believed it symbolized opposition to bigger or intrusive government.” The city said Sgt. Dildine’s photo was inflammatory and showed poor judgment, The Post and Courier reported. North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers said he was fired because the photo undermined Sgt. Dildine’s “ability to improve trust and instill confidence when working with our citizens.” “Your posting in this manner led to you being publicly identified as a North Charleston police officer and associated both you and the Department with an image that symbolizes hate and oppression to a significant portion of the citizens we are sworn to serve,” Chief Driggers wrote in his termination letter, according to the New York Daily News. Sgt. Dildine said in his lawsuit that he didn’t know that church shooter Dylann Roof had used the Confederate flag to express racial hatred. Sgt. Dildine claimed the city had discriminated against him because he’s white, citing a black police officer from his department who was not disciplined for appearing in a photo with Black Lives Matter protesters. The South Carolinian Insurance Reserve Fund will pay Sgt. Dildine the $55,000 settlement. Dildine is just another in a long line of people who have been singled out for their beliefs. H/T BlueLivesMatter One Response ROY S. MALLMANN April 20, 2020 As long as he wore his briefs out of the public view in a private matter, why was he fired from his job? Did he display any “racist” type of behavior? He really should get his job back. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ
ROY S. MALLMANN April 20, 2020 As long as he wore his briefs out of the public view in a private matter, why was he fired from his job? Did he display any “racist” type of behavior? He really should get his job back. Reply