Updates On The Woman Who Claimed She Was Fired For Having A Concealed Carry Permit
This Is Why You Can’t Trust MSM To Tell You About Guns
March 14, 2018Maryland State Senator Claims A Lobbyist Groped Her, But There’s Security Footage…
March 14, 2018I told you about a woman who alleged she was terminated from her city job as a social worker for having a concealed carry permit.
You should catch up here.
While I obviously didn’t have the whole story at that time, I said that if this WAS true… it was a big deal.
I have no doubt this girl LOVES attention. A quick glance through her Twitter feed will tell you that… but the fact that she may be immature does not mean this didn’t happen.
More details are unfolding… and the employers are now telling their side of the story.
According to Roanoke.com:
A memo outlining reasons a Roanoke social services worker was fired last week cites performance problems but makes no mention of the concealed weapons permit she said led to her dismissal.
Her claim of being represented by lawyers from a prominent Virginia gun rights advocacy group was also called into question.
Storm Durham, 22, became an instant social media sensation among gun rights advocates and conservative media after her posts about her firing from the city’s Department of Social Services last week on Facebook and Twitter.
She was asked by The Roanoke Times to share the memo and never supplied it, but did share it Tuesday with a Roanoke television station. A photograph of it was posted to the WSLS-TV (Channel 10) website.
It lists the reasons for her dismissal as “failing to perform tasks required by the job, when efforts to correct issues related to job responsibilities have not been adhered to in the areas of training, missed work, documentation, time management, assessing safety, engaging families, workplace safety concerns and professionalism.”
Ok… so the memo of why she was fired definitely points to her not doing her job satisfactorily. But would her city employers include it in the memo if they took issue with her political views or her owning a concealed carry permit?
It also lists a series of six meetings with Durham about her performance beginning Oct. 27 — the month she was hired — and continuing through Feb. 22. According to the memo, the meetings were about Durham’s behavior during training, attendance, dress code, performance deficiencies and professionalism.
A Feb. 5 meeting involved discussion of a “workplace safety concern.”
It makes no specific mention of firearms or her concealed weapons permit.
Hmmm… that’s interesting…. and again… I wouldn’t EXPECT it to make mention of that.
In a Monday interview with The Roanoke Times, Durham acknowledged her six months on the job as a child protective services investigator involved “a few bumps in the road.” She described meetings with supervisors about her performance.
She described the dismissal memo she signed when she was fired as mentioning performance issues, but said at the top of the list was a workplace safety concern.
Durham said she asked about that item and was told by the assistant director that her possession of a concealed weapons permit made her a safety risk in the building and for co-workers.
If this is the case, then her concealed carry permit WAS in fact used against her. Regardless of other workplace issues or inadequacies, this would be simply unacceptable.
Durham also said Monday she was planning to sue Roanoke’s government over her firing and said she was working with attorneys supplied by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a Second Amendment advocacy group.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the VCDL, subsequently called The Roanoke Times to say Durham was not working with his group. He said he’d received a message from her but had not responded.
“We never talked to her,” Van Cleave said.
He suggested Durham may have found a lawyer on her own using a list of gun-friendly attorneys on the VCDL website and confused that with having the direct help of the organization itself.
Asked about it, Durham said via Facebook messenger Tuesday she was “trying to get in touch with them. So as of now I’m still looking for a lawyer.”
Again… I’m not saying she’s handled any of this the right way. I think she’s gotten really ahead of herself with the attention this story has afforded her… but I think that if she DOES get a lawyer and proceeds with her case… this is worth taking a serious look into.
She’s turning this whole thing into a media opportunity, which will certainly not help her credibility problem… but again. I’m not sure one way or another that this did or did not happen until all information is laid out in front of me.
After being highlighted by conservative media and politicians and telling her story in interviews with the National Rifle Association, she seemed to develop other career aspirations.
She told The Roanoke Times, “I feel like God maybe put something in my lap [so] I could maybe further my career … on a different career path.”
Durham created a separate Facebook page called “The Conservative Storm,” along with a YouTube channel under the same name where she posted videos recorded on Facebook live in which she chatted with and answered questions from supporters and dismissed detractors.
Those pages were still up Wednesday morning.
She has also started a crowdfunding account.
Whether or not you like how she’s handling this, or if she was good at her job…. if that “safety concern” WAS the gun permit… and that WAS used against her… this is a big deal.
But you know… it could just be a case of a disgruntled fired employee trying to get some media attention.
As of now, we don’t really know… but we’ll certainly keep you updated.
