Ron Franklin, who was recently fired from ESPN for his remarks to a female colleague at the Chick-fil-A Bowl, is sueing the network for what he says is wrongful termination. He claims that the reported remarks were inflated and taken out of context. Franklin claims that they had no ground for dismissal and that furthermore it was a private conversation reported on by a colleague.
However, instead of sueing to get his job back or for a public apology he is attempting only to recieve monetary compensation for unspecified damages and other fees. He denies that his comments were rude or hurtful and does not seem to see the need to apologize or admit that he was wrong. Franklin's lawyer said in a statement that he believed they had a good case and was confident that his client's view would be seen. Franklin believes that the company's decision to fire him was premature and did not take into account all of facts and the actual situation and dialogue since it was reported by a third party.
As we learned from our reading about rhetoric and discourse, though two parties have differences, today it seems like criticism or questioning of people's opinions are directly linked back to them and they get defensive. Instead of apologizing for the initial remark that offended his colleague or trying to explain himself, when she objected he merely returned with an unmentioned derogatory term. He did not try in any way to see her side of the discussion and refused to retract his statements to her, turning ugly when she took exception. Rather than listening and being civil about things, he took it personally and an ugly confrontation took place as a result. After being a major announcer for over 20 years he was fired for something that could have easily been resolved if he would have talked it out or not been so narrowminded in his thoughts.
Here's a link to the yahoo article covering the story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110120/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_espn_announcer
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