Eason, head of a state lab, retired at 51.
Posted on 07/09/2008 10:07:34 AM PDT by AreaMan
Eason, head of a state lab, retired at 51.
RALEIGH - L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he'd ever had rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.
Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or North Carolina flags at half-staff Monday, as called for in a directive to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley.
When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms. After several hours' delay, one of Eason's employees hung the flags at half-staff.
The brouhaha began late Sunday night, when Eason e-mailed eight of his employees in the state standards lab, which calibrates measuring equipment used on things as widely varied as gasoline and hamburgers.
"Regardless of any executive proclamation, I do not want the flags at the North Carolina Standards Laboratory flown at half staff to honor Jesse Helms any time this week," Eason wrote just after midnight, according to e-mail messages released in response to a public records request.
He told his staff that he did not think it was appropriate to honor Helms because of his "doctrine of negativity, hate, and prejudice" and his opposition to civil rights bills and the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Eason said in an interview Tuesday that he did not typically lower the flag himself, but that, as head of the lab, he supervised the technician who did. He also trained new employees on proper flag etiquette, including a one-person folding technique he learned in Boy Scouts.
When the lab opened Monday morning, the flags were not out at all. An employee called Eason's boss, Stephen Benjamin, who worked in another building in Raleigh. About 10:45 a.m., Benjamin told one of Eason's co-workers to put the flags at half-staff.
Another of Eason's superiors later drove by the lab to make sure the flags were up properly.
No one in the Governor's Office was aware of any time in recent memory when a state employee refused to lower a flag. Brian Long, a spokesman for the Agriculture Department, said Eason's refusal was unexpected.
"We've never had any conversations like that," he said.
An ultimatum
In a string of e-mail messages with his superiors, Eason was told he could either lower the flags or retire effective immediately.
Though he's only 51, Eason chose to retire, although he pleaded several times to be allowed to stay at the lab. Eason, who had worked for the Agriculture Department since graduating from college, was paid $65,235 a year as the laboratory manager.
Several people, including his wife, argued to Eason that the flags belonged to the state, as did the lab. But Eason said he felt a strong sense of ownership.
Eason and a previous boss had sketched out the building's rough design on a napkin at the Atlanta airport in 1984 after attending a national conference on weights and measures.
He then worked to get funding for it in the state budget, and he recently helped snag state money to study building another lab.
"I designed and built that lab," he said. "Even though technically the bricks and mortar belong to the state of North Carolina, I feel very strongly that everything that comes out of there is my responsibility."
It was not the first time Eason felt uneasy about lowering the flag.
A registered Democrat who frequently votes a split ticket, he said he had no problems lowering the flag for former Sen. Terry Sanford or President Reagan. But he remembers wondering whether he would be willing to lower the flag after President Nixon's death.
He never had to make that decision, since it rained both days.
Monday was sunny. And Eason was out of a job.
ryan.teague.beckwith@newsobserver.com or (919) 836-4944
If Barb Boxer or some other leftist s-bag senator / congress thing dies, they get the honor accorded to the OFFICE, not the person.
This is a petty little man.
Good riddance.
H
Don't let the door hit you on your way out.
Lisa Simpson grew up and had a sex change.
Agreed.
The idea of "public servant" just sank a bit deeper into the muck.
Agree 100%.
...petty little pathetic excuse for a...
What a loathsome, hate-filled, miserable little worm.
Instead of offering retirement, they should have fired him and caused him to lose all retirement benefits he would have been eligible for.
What an immature, childish brat. Typical liberal.
L.F. Eason III and the DemonRats will go into mourning when KKK Byrd dies. Hypocrisy, thy name is Liberal.
Interesting story.
Without question, this guy should be fired and I am sure he was well aware of that when he made his decision not to lower the flag. The guy Stuck By his Principles.
Now, what would the reaction be if some state bureaucrat refused to lower the flags upon the death of Ted Kennedy?
Would the State of Massachusetts Fire him and would Freepers advocate the he be fired?
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Failing to follow orders is a bear, ain’t it?!?
Bye-bye
If some state employee in Massachoozits offended the Kennedy clan they would be kneecapped.
Eason down the road, ya bum.
The flag was lowered anyway, he lost his job, and even his wife thinks he’s wrong.
snicker....
This drama queen probably thought he had enough pull to get his own way on this. He was wrong
Will you go into mourning when when Byrd dies?
If you were ordered by your employer to lower the flag to half staff to honor Sen Bird or Sen Kennedy, would you follow that order or refuse?
It was his time to shine! Probably the only time.
Government employees have no ‘personal rights’ when it comes to feelings and harbored resentment. He knew that after having worked for the government for so many years.
Using this particular incident to parade as some kind of demented hero is lame and self-serving - nothing can be learned from it.
BTW...typical government bureaucrat.
Isn't Yiddish simply the most wonderfully expressive language?
Some libs really value their anger and hatred. Its more important than employment, family, friends, etc.
It's too bad ignorance isn't painful.
This Freeper would advocate such a person be fired. You can have all the free speech you wish but not using government property as your mode of expression. The speech in this case is that of the state, not an individual, as this man’s wife so ably pointed out. Let’s hope the Mrs. has a decent job herself to support the family.
Petty little psycho moonbat bump
You think Byrd is gonna die? I’m beginning to wonder.
Well said. I agree.
I really wish they could throw people out the door, physically, like in the old westerns.
Good bye, d-bag.
someone correct me if i am wrong....only the president can order flags to be flown at half mast...i do not believe a governor can order the flag of the u.s. to be flown at half mast, only the state flag. therefore, the governor did not have the authority to order him to fly the flag at half mast....
Thereby proving yourself to be the smaller, pettier man.
I would advocate that an employee who refused to lower a flag for Ted Kennedy’s Death should be fired.
However, I imagine that there would be a large contingent of Freepers that hail that person as a hero.
Hypocrisy rots both the Left and the Right,
No.
He should have resigned FIRST.
Or, raised the flag and then resigned.
Instead, he treated a state office is his own fiefdom.
Some principles.
The state stuck by its principles when it booted him out on his ass.
He was ordered by a state official to lower the flag on state, not private, property. He wasn’t asked to mourn Helms. In his position, I would have lowered the flag. Would do the same in MA or WV for Kennedy/Byrd. That doesn’t mean I have to personally mourn either’s passing.
There’s a world of difference between state and personal property, and official and personal mourning.
In his state a governor has the authority to order flags flown at half mast.
Oh look another caring and compassionate liberal..... /SARCASM
What hateful and vindictive people these people are.
Retired at 51? On Pension? How does that work?
The mentality of this guy is astounding. He acts as if he owns the joint rather than being a small-minded government employer who is sucking at the teat at the expense of taxpayers.
This guy reminds me of Forrest Gump. Stupid is as stupid does.
If the rules say that a flag goes to half-staff (i.e., the governor proclaims it), then yep, I’d lower that flag if Kennedy or Byrd or anyone else of either party died. It’s done to honor the office, not just the man.
}:-)4
Thank you for that informative article.....I stand corrected
I suspect a standard form is sent out to governors upon the death of a senator, representative, or other government officals requesting/ordering the lowering of the flag.
I would also.
But what would the reaction here be if it were Kennedy that had died?
The reaction would be the same. You do what your boss tells you when on company time and with company property.
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