Calls for Religious and Cultural Tolerance Training, No Punishment
TRENTON – Attached, please find Senator Raymond J. Lesniak’s letter to NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein, calling for the re-hiring of Derek Fenton, an 11-year employee who was fired on Monday for a protest display in which he tore out and burned pages from the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks against America.
Governor Chris Christie is carbon-copied on the letter, which calls for Mr. Fenton to undergo religious tolerance and cultural diversity training as a condition of his re-employment. Beyond that, Senator Lesniak writes, Mr. Fenton should receive no other punishment, as his actions, however offensive, are protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.