SLRC in the News
2 December 2003

Appeals Court Re-Hears Confederate Flag Dispute

by Larry O'Dell, AP Writer

Charleston, SC --  An attorney for a South Carolina mechanic who was fired for displaying Confederate flag stickers on his toolbox urged a federal appeals court today to reinstate the man's lawsuit against his employer.

Coburg Dairy Inc. in Charleston, S.C., fired Matthew Dixon for refusing to use a different toolbox after a black co-worker complained.  Coburg said Dixon violated its workplace harassment policy.  Dixon claimed the company violated state employment laws and his free-speech rights.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a judge's dismissal of the lawsuit, ruling in May that Dixon's constitutional right to display the flag does not extend to a privately owned workplace. The full appeals court reheard the case Tuesday.

Arguments centered mostly on Dixon's contention that the matter should have been settled in state court.  A lawyer for the company argued that federal jurisdiction is appropriate because of the underlying constitutional question.

Coburg attorney Tom Kilpatrick also cautioned against restricting employers' right to maintain an orderly and non-threatening work environment.

"Are we going to allow an employee to wear a white robe into the workplace, burn a cross in the lunch room and use the n-word?" Kilpatrick asked the court.

Dixon's attorney, Samuel W. Howell IV, said South Carolina is on "the cutting edge" in extending individual civil liberties to the workplace and that a court could find Coburn in violation of state laws without involving the federal judiciary.

But Judge Roger Gregory, who wrote the majority opinion in the 2-1 panel decision, responded that "the First Amendment right to display a Confederate flag is a substantial question" of federal constitutional law.

The court usually takes several weeks to issue a decision.

On the Net: http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov

PLEASE SEND YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION TO:

SOUTHERN LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER
PO BOX 1235
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC 28711