Well, The Pros have to add this one to the ever thickening “Are You Kidding” file!
In a case The Pros have renamed “Fun Police Gone Wild”, 13 lifeguards and a supervisor were fired for making the video below.
The lifeguards created and posted the video, their parody of the Korean pop song “Gangnam Style,” by Psy, which has become the number one most watched video of all time on YouTube. The lifeguards claim it was done during non-working hours and was not meant for anyone other than themselves.
The employer, the city of El Monte, California, has come under scrutiny for the firings. To that, The Pros reply with – “Well I hope so!”.
What could the city have possibly seen in this video that was cause for loss of employment? Robert Alaniz, a spokesman for the city of El Monte, released this statement regarding the termination of the part-time seasonal lifeguards and a pool manager:
“While the City of El Monte cannot comment on the specifics of this situation because it involves personnel issues, we can say that each of the employees dismissed were either part-time and/or seasonal at-will employees, who upon their employment, were each required to acknowledge and sign an acknowledgement that states that they would ‘under no circumstances use any city property for his/her own private use or benefit. Such unauthorized use shall be cause for disciplinary action.’ There was a clear unauthorized use of city resources and property, including the use of city-issued uniforms during the making of this unauthorized video. The City maintains that it holds all employees to a higher standard.”
Of course, to the letter of the law, their point is legitimate as we knew it would be. But really, someone had to take their time to bring this up for their termination? The Pros cannot find any evidence that this video could, in any way, bring bad press or problems to the city. As so often happens today in this digital world, the video went viral and now the guards have a Facebook page and a Change.org petition that is approaching 16,000 signatures!
Congratulations to the knuckle heads at the city of El Monte! Here is to letting kids be kids and have some good, clean fun!
Happy Tubbing!
Ethel Elliott
