Former Marine fired for tattoo quoting General Mattis

Former Marine fired for tattoo quoting Mattis
By Bethany Crudele
Staff writer
Posted : Monday Aug 27, 2012
A former Marine says his ink got him canned from his civilian railroad job.

What was so offensive that his superiors could not stand for it? A quote from one of the Marine Corps’ most revered generals.

Union Pacific Railroad fired conductor Carl Newman of Kansas City, Mo., in 2010 because his tattoo violated the company’s “Violence in the Workplace” policy, according to a complaint filed in federal court Aug. 9.

The words were spoken by Gen. James Mattis, now head of U.S. Central Command, when he led Marines in Iraq in 2003.

Mattis, then a tough-talking major general known as “the Warrior Monk,” commanded 1st Marine Division during the invasion. According to Washington Post reporter Thomas E. Ricks’ book “Fiasco,” Mattis sent his tanks and artillery home after the successful invasion. He met with Iraqi tribal leaders and said, “I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I am pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f--- with me, I’ll kill you all.”

Newman, who served on active duty from 1997 to 2001, had Mattis’ statement tattooed on his arm before joining Union Pacific. The complaint states that a fellow employee photographed his arm. According to the complaint, Union Pacific Railroad’s policy is not to discipline people for offensive tattoos unless they are directed to cover the ink and fail to comply, and Newman was never asked to cover up his tattoo.

But the complaint also makes the case that the railroad company used the tattoo as an excuse to fire him in retaliation for whistle-blowing phone calls to the company’s safety hotline about hazards along the tracks. According to a report by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Newman called the hotline hundreds of times.
read more here