To fire or not to fire, what message should I send?

I just took over a small company with 18 employees.

One of them was a 32 year old white male who acts as 2nd manager.

My 70 year old father was verbally attacked several weeks ago by this men while he was trying to nap in the car of a public parking lot waiting for my mother. Racial none sense and vulgar gestures.

I just found out that this men is my employee.
His offense was outside of work... should I fire him?
He apologized and said "I didn't mean anything by it".

Fire or not ? He has a wife and two children.
Additional Details
Note - He initially denied the accusations when my father accidently met him at work.

Only after "Mike" learned he was my father and not a client did he fess up.

james3stone

(not) his wife and kids should'nt have to pay for his dumbass remarks but, i would'nt do him any favors.

Windy

Was he on duty at the time? If he was, you can fire him. Inappropriate behavior while on duty. If you don't fire him, you need to write him up. The fact that it was racial and vulgar is good grounds to fire him.

If he wasn't on company time, you can't - but you can have a meeting with him. His actions are inappropriate and you don't want that associated with the company. It makes the co. look bad.

Britt

Some parts of me think you should and others I don't.
First off, this is your father and he was doing nothing wrong minding his own business and this man decides to do these acts you said. This man does not seem like a good employee you should have, even though it was out of work.

The only reason I have for you not to fire him is that he has a family to support, but then maybe he needs to learn how to be a better person from this.

Lindsay

i'd fire him. he's a douche.

tough. I think that firing him may be a bit rough, but I think he needs to be talked to and you should tell him that this sort of behavior won't fly if he wants to keep his job.

Michael H

That sure tells you a lot about his character.......

How does he treat your clients when you are not around?

Abide by the laws of your state, if you fire him, fire him because he treated a stranger as such, NOT because it was your father.

smartchick09

This man may be vulgar and racist, however, his actions on the workplace must be in line. If you do fire him for conduct out of work, you could have a possible lawsuit on your hands.

robert

No you shouldn't fire him. Unless he does something wrong in the work place. What he does on his time is his business.

dori

NOT. I am sure that whatever he said to your father made you angry but remember he has a family and unless he is insubordinate or does something that requires immediate termination it would be moraly wrong in my opinion. Not to mention you will probably end up paying unemployment or even being sued. Weigh the consequences. it is against the law to fire someone because they said something to your father you didn't like in the past. Simple as that.
Dori

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