(PatrioticPost.com)- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is coming to realize that it’s not a good idea to mess with supporters of President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, Trump tweeted his ire for the company, writing:
“Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES — They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less! (This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!).”
Following that tweet, shares of Goodyear dropped 5.86%. Shares of their competitor, Bridgestone Corp., rose by 1.42% meanwhile.
The ordeal began when a located TV station in Topeka, Kansas, aired a report on an employee of Goodyear who said the company had a “zero-tolerance” diversity policy and called it “discriminatory.” According to the employee, the company policy was outlined in a slide presented by the corporate office.
The policy said it was OK for employees to wear clothes that support social and political causes such as Black Lives Matter. At the same time, though, the company said it wasn’t OK for employees to wear attire in support of Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan MAGA (Make America Great Again) or Blue Lives Matter.
The employee shared a photo of the slide in question to WIBW in Topeka, which shared it on social media. Under the “Acceptable” category were Black Lives Matter (BLM), and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride (LGBT). Under “Unacceptable” were Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, MAGA Attire, Political Affiliated Slogans or Material.
The employee, who asked the TV station to remain anonymous, said:
“If someone wants to wear a BLM shirt in here, then cool. I’m not going to get offended about it. But at the same time, if someone’s not going to be able to wear something that is politically based, even in the farthest stretch of the imagination, that’s discriminatory.”
Goodyear responded by saying the slide was mischaracterized. Instead, the company said it just discourages campaigning on company property because it could cause a conflict.
In a statement, the company the visual in question wasn’t created by corporate, and it wasn’t a part of the company’s diversity training class. The statement went on to say:
“To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any forms of harassment or discriminations. To enable a work environment free of those, we ask that associates refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues.”
The company also said it “has always supported both equality and law enforcement and will continue to do so. These are not mutually exclusive. We have heard from some of you that believe Goodyear is anti-police after reacting to the visual. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we have the utmost appreciation for the vital work police do on behalf of our shared communities. This can’t be said strongly enough.”
