Owner George Burnett charges liberals a dollar more than conservatives at his Vernal, Utah smoothie shop
Burnett, the owner of I Love Drilling Juice & Smoothie Bar, started charging liberals a $1 more than conservatives for his smoothies.
‘They’re costing us money,’ he told The Salt Lake Tribune about his left-leaning customers. ‘So it only seems fair that I charge them a little bit more.’
His menu board above the register clearly states that liberals will pay $5.95 for a 16-ounce smoothie or juice, while conservatives pay $4.95.
Not surprisingly, the stunt found a lot of support in Republican-dominated Utah
One of those supporters was Terry Lee, owner of Terry Lee Forensics, who wanted offset Obamacare costs by firing two workers who happened to support President Obama.
Lee first explained himself In the comments section of The Tribune’s story on Burnett.
Inspired by Burnett, another Utah business owner has fired two employees for supporting President Obama
‘Love it. We had to let two employees go to cover new Obongocare [sic] costs and increased taxes,’ Lee wrote. ‘Found two Obongo supporters and gave them the news yesterday. They wanted the idiot in the Whitehouse [sic], they reap the benefits.’
Later, Lee spoke to the Tribune.
‘They were Obama supporters. We just knew they were,’ Lee said. ‘I implied that sort of tongue and cheek [in the comments section] but there were other issues, too. They were not top performers.’
He added: ‘I don’t believe it is [illegal], but I don’t know.”
It’s not.
Both business owners are well within their legal rights
Federal and Utah law do not prevent private employers from firing employees on the basis of political affiliation.
The only exception is if they are a government employee.
‘It doesn’t violate any of the statutes we enforce, which cover race, religion, age, gender, national origin,” a regional attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told the Tribune.
According to the Utah Labor Commission website, ’employment in Utah is generally ‘at-will.’ This means that an employer can fire an at-will employee without cause and without notice.’
