Florida City Manager Fired After Disclosure of Wife’s Work as Adult Film Star
jonathanturley
We have yet another case of an employee being fired for activities outside of work. The case of former Fort Myers beach, Florida town manager Scott Janke, however, is a bit different. He is being fired because of his wife Anabela Mota Janke’s work as a porn star. Mayor Larry Kiker called a city council meeting without Janke present and secured an unanimous vote of 5-0 to terminate his contract because of what his wife does for a living. Kiker’s action runs afoul of the privacy and free speech and free association rights of this couple. Yet, he is relying on a contract that allows Janke to be fired for good cause, bad cause or no cause at all.
Janke’s wife performs in adult films under the name Jazella Moore but her true identity was revealed on the Adult Industry News website in an article — though it is not clear which of the good people of Fort Myer were reading the website to notice.
Mayor Larry Kiker acknowledges that “the man didn’t do anything illegal” but that does not seem to bother him or his punishment of a couple for their lifestyle. He insists that “it’s obvious what the issue is.” City council member Bob Raymond was quite willing to throw wood on the pyre, “In these types of jobs, trust is a very important thing. If you lose that, you’re losing a big thing.” Good point. Citizens would like to trust mayors and city council members to focus on crime, the environment, schools and other issues — and not retaliate against citizens who have lifestyles that they do not agree with.
We have recently seen a variety of teachers, police officers, and others fired or disciplined for their conduct in their private time, here and here. This has included actions against people engaged in the porn industry, here and here and here and here.
