(copy & paste from another forum)

Dig this SHIT.

There's a guy I know through GBprops named Robert who has spent the last year or so planning the construction of his own ecto replica. He works as an officer for the local police force in the small town of Kermit, Texas and has been drafting plans to fulfill one of his childhood dreams by driving around his own minds-eye version of an ectomobile, built out of a Colt Vista wagon.

After refurbishing the car with new paint and interior he applied his ghostbusters graphics (the logo, caution stripes, and ‘call us’ decals). Promptly after that, the officers that are his co-workers complained to the chief that they would be unable to do their job effectively with Robert driving around town in his cartoony ectomobile. The officers stated that they would refuse to do their job if Robert was allowed to have fun in his free time.

THE CHIEF THREATENED TO FIRE HIM unless he removed the graphics and his basic roofrack construct. An agreement was made that everything had to be removable and that Robert would only put his ecto together for certain occaisions.

Robert continued to work on his project, until recently when he was told that he was not allowed to operate his vehicle within the city limits or he would be fired.

Now, Robert told me about this back in september, and I told him that it is against the law for an employer to discriminate against an employee for what they do in their private lives and if the other officers didn't have the integrity to deal with , I'm sure the taxpayers of Kermit would be more than happy to replace them with officers who will actually do their job. Kermit may be a small town and thus eccentricity of this variety may be looked down upon, but that does not excuse the fact that this whole pile of bullshit is mind-blowingly ILLEGAL.

If Robert was driving around in his ecto while on the clock, I'd understand. If he was directly representing the police force while dressed in the flightsuit, I'd understand. But this is the police department telling him, “You can't own a car that looks like this.” And what's their reasoning behind it? “All the other kids are gonna laugh at us!”

I told Robert that this is the sort of civil liberties case that most lawyers dream about being a part of, and that he could set himself up for life with the settlement he could get out such a lawsuit. I told him that this was the nerd equivalent of telling him to go sit in the back of the bus! I told him at the very least that he should contact the media about this injustice. Instead he told me that he would just bend over and take it.

I am posting this against his wishes for privacy because he needs to know that he is 100% in the right with his situation. He needs to know that there are thousands of ghostheads who would rally behind him and generously act as resources to help him. He needs to know that there are even more people who believe in the system established to protect our private freedoms who would be more than happy stand up and fight this.

What can we do to get the ball rolling for Robert?

secrecyguy
I am posting this against his wishes for privacy

No offense dude, but if they want to keep the matter private, you should respect that. (*egon)

Yes, it's bad what they're doing. They aren't allowed to bud into someone's private life, but unless he files a complaint with the head office we can't really do much.

Yeah, it probably would've been better not to use his actual name…

That being said, this IS bullsh*t. But it's obviously stupid, as well. I definitely think he should do something, but maybe suing isn't the answer. I mean, these are his co-workers after all, it's a little different than getting into a lawsuit with a complete stranger. He probably isn't taking action because it'd be an awkward situation; even if he won the case, he couldn't realistically continue working with those guys without serious social repercussions. …I think he should level with ‘em, straight up. Tell them ….."hey guys, don’t be so retarded. Ghostbusters is f*cking cool alright, and if I wanna build an Ectomobile and drive it around or whatever, then there ain't jack you can do about it. Live with it. It doesn't make me a damn ‘nerd’, and it certainly doesn't make you ‘nerds’ by association, nor does it affect my job. It's my life. Grow up…. If you would seriously fire me over something so trivial, and illegal, then I guess I'll be seeing you in court. Otherwise, just live with it. ‘Cuz I’m building this thing no matter what."

…He should basically tell them that. Give them fair warning, and then go ahead with his project which he's already spend a lot of time, money, and passion on. If they still fire him after that, then I'd say they were jackasses to begin with, and not worth having as co-workers. Bottom line: He should NOT let anyone stop him from pursuing his dreams.

Ghoulishfright
Bottom line: He should NOT let anyone stop him from pursuing his dreams.

Quote for truth. (*peter)

Although “dreams” can be something arguable. If there dream is something bad, than by all means, stop them. I'll shut up now. :p

There's two things that I keep of all this.

the officers that are his co-workers complained to the chief that they would be unable to do their job effectively with Robert driving around town in his cartoony ectomobile.

Any vehicles modified are not allowed to go on the streets, if its criterias doesn't match what's in the book about safety. The car is not allowed to go on the street if it have “security lights” on its roof also.

So, just take the car to the inspection. If it pass, there's no problem. And how many cars, on the streets, are modified to the limits. A Ghostbusters car should be not a problem.

If you work for the law, a law that says “no security lights”, and that your colleague starts to parade in a funny car during his freetime, you may feel uncomfortable; imagine everyone starting to do the same the day after.

If the car have security lights, it may be a problem. But if it's for special occasions, we always hear about exception. And we saw cars on tv that were far worst than that.

The officers stated that they would refuse to do their job if Robert was allowed to have fun in his free time

That would be against the law to refuse, for such a childish thing. The city needs its security. It's not like if Mr Robert is a threat for the population.

We all need a good atmosphere at work. Only Mr Robert knows if it would be wise to do an action or not.

Ghoulishfright Wrote:

That being said, this IS bullsh*t. But it's obviously stupid, as well. I definitely think he should do something, but maybe suing isn't the answer. I mean, these are his co-workers after all, it's a little different than getting into a lawsuit with a complete stranger. He probably isn't taking action because it'd be an awkward situation; even if he won the case, he couldn't realistically continue working with those guys without serious social repercussions.

*While I cringe at the thought of going through “legal limbo” to achieve an end to a problem, the dude is WELL within his rights to sue…As said, this type of action against him for persuing something on his OWN time, in his OWN personal life, and on his OWN personal NON-police vehicle is HIGHLY ILLEGAL…And to “bow-out”, and let his superiors get away with this is a crime in and of itself…

*And to be honest, hypothetically speaking, if he WON, he wouldn't HAVE TO work with those guys ever again, depending on how much he won as a result…I'm pretty sure if worst came to worse, a neighboring county's police force would snatch him up in a HEARTBEAT, as most police forces unfairly compete with each other for rank, and what better way to outdo the other than to employ a “media-darling” , and someone to whom the former “force” illegally shoved into a corner?

*“Social reprocussions”?…Pshaw (*peter) …

Ghoulishfright Wrote:

Tell them ….."hey guys, don't be so retarded. Ghostbusters is f*cking cool alright, and if I wanna build an Ectomobile and drive it around or whatever, then there ain't jack you can do about it. Live with it. It doesn't make me a damn ‘nerd’, and it certainly doesn't make you ‘nerds’ by association, nor does it affect my job. It's my life. Grow up….

*If they've gone this far to ostricize him, and to even take action against him, and threaten his livelyhood over this matter, then I HIGHLY suspect that that type of response from him wouldn't go over to well…He'd probably loose his job outright, and honestly if it were me - I'd look elsewhere for employment…But if he has a family to support, then that really wouldn't be an option…So I'd go the legal route…

*But again, having said that, there is the aformentioned “cringe factor” associated with “court battles”…I.e. court and lawyer fees…So honestly his best option would be to find other employment, if building the “Ectomobile” is his passion, above and beyond anything else…

Ghoulishfright Wrote:

Bottom line: He should NOT let anyone stop him from pursuing his dreams.

*Nor should anyone else, regardless of circumstance …“GhoulishFright” FTW (*peter) :-) …

*Cheers.

NewRecruit Wrote:

The officers stated that they would refuse to do their job if Robert was allowed to have fun in his free time

That would be against the law to refuse, for such a childish thing. The city needs its security. It's not like if Mr Robert is a threat for the population.

*EXACTLY…His fellow “officers” who complained originally should be fired for their childishness alone…

*They're essentially putting their egos over “protecting” the general public, to whom they are REQUIRED to protect, as per their “job description” (*egon) …

*Cheers.

It certainly seems rich how, in our politically correct times… Robert's officers aren't exhibiting their sensibility training.

It's especially pathetic how they'd take something so personally when it is something that's being done in Rober's spare time, and it makes you wonder about the quality of law enforcement there.

That said, I can understand why Robert would bow down, as it is a heck of a lot of bother he probably thinks he can do without.

Of course, it may help for some sort of discussion to be brought up to help work out why they're so concerned about one of their fellow officers doing it in their spare time, such a discussion should bring up the fact Ghostbusters is still an incredibly popular property and frequently at parades in other towns and cities both replica Ectomobiles and people in costume have always gotten wide support.

Furthermore, if Police and Fire Department officials can actively take part in a parade which is to help give the people of said town some fun and enjoyment, it seems silly to then restrict someone building an Ecto-1 in their free time.


I certainly know that emergency lights have been a major bone of contention as the laws on emergency lights shift drastically from state to state, and even from one town to another… but logo graphics? Whilst I could almost see the reasoning for restricting the use of hazard tape… I can't see any logical reasoning for saying he can't display the logo.

As to what we can do… obviously we could raise a stink on his behalf, but in the end this may not do him many favours. If he'd rather put his dream on hold indefinately and make sure he still has a job then that's his choice… it may seem grossly unfair to us but those are Robert's wishes and we should respect them. Without his blessing, we shouldn't take things into our own hands.

Edit

Just to clarify, SG was reposting something Boomerjinks had posted at GBProps.

In addition to that, Robert has posted on the subject:

Robert
Well,

What can I say. With the current job I hold is this small, backwards, ignorant and a few other words added in, town I live in.

I have been told by my boss that my hobby is causing to much friction between me and my co-workers and that the public's view of our job has taken a really bad turn.

I can have my hobby, I can not display it around town. I can not have anything out of the ordinary on my car. I can not have anything that would reflect badly upon myself or my fellow coworkers.

I am allowed to have this hobby as long as I do it outside of town, I can dress up my car as long as it is outside of town.

So, in a nut shell. I will continue to build all my stuff, but for me to post pictures is going to be hard. I would have to pile all my separate pieces in my car, drive out of town, rig it all up and then take pictures.

So, I am not stopping from doing this hobby, I am just now going to try and find another job in a bigger city without the politics of small town mentality level thinking that I have come to face.

I never knew my hobby would be such a downside to my job.

I would say Happy Holidays, but I got Scrooged in the end, catch my drift?

-Robert

It still weird that he's not even allowed to play in his own backyard. Many people build their own invention behind their house. At the end, many become soo popular that the tvnews visit them! Even the mayor may be approached and the town receive tourists in return. I think they can miss something here.

NewRecruit
It still weird that he's not even allowed to play in his own backyard

Not really, not in this case. Once built the car would almost surely become a familiar element in and around the town… most likely at holidays and parades but it's not like he was building something that'd only be in his garage or backyard. A car like that you want to show off to people and unfortunately the Department have taken issue with that, as rediculous as it may be.