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Here's your "due process" Ray McDonald: You're fired.
If the San Francisco 49ers have chalked up one victory in this misbegotten season, it came yesterday. On the day
Sony Pictures utterly capitulated to hackers who may or may not have been hired
by this guy, the team unceremoniously
jettisoned troubled defensive lineman Ray McDonald.
That's
great timing.
McDonald is no stranger to area law-enforcement; he was earlier this year arrested on felony domestic abuse charges against his pregnant fiancee. Team management cited McDonald's right to "
due process" at the time, and he continued to play downs for the Niners during that process. Ultimately, McDonald was not charged with a crime.
And yet he was released yesterday
without being either arrested or charged with a crime. He is purportedly a suspect in a sexual assault case being investigated by police — but, with the National Football League reeling in the wake of its
oscillating mandate to coddle or crucify (alleged) domestic abusers, coming under police suspicion is enough to be handed your walking papers. Team General Manager Trent Baalke chalked up the Niners severe move to McDonald's "pattern of poor decisions."
You can insert your own
pot-and-kettle related analogy here.
In any event, firing an employee who has not been charged with, let alone found guilty of a crime is "hugely problematic" says San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi. And this is a situation beguiling many men or women who aren't earning millions of dollars to play games.
