Freedom to Pose

From Richard Roeper:

The Orlando Sentinel: "Five Olive Garden servers and a hostess are featured in a new online pictorial from Playboy.com called 'The Girls of Olive Garden.' "

...
Often, when you see a story like this in the news, it's followed by a statement from a company spokesman condemning the photo shoot or even saying the women have been fired.

Here's what Olive Garden's spokeswoman told the Sentinel: "What people chose to do outside of work is an individual decision, and we all have the freedom to participate in any legal activity in our private lives."

… Nobody's getting fired? No disciplinary action?

Talk about a shocking development. Talk about a refreshingly open-minded and cosmopolitan attitude. All hail the Olive Garden.

Hmmmm…in general that is a good attitude for businesses to take. But…there are exceptions we can agree on, right? For example, if I work for radio station WDAV and I’m quoted in the newspaper as saying I recommend people listen to WTEH instead, wouldn’t that be a reasonable thing for WDAV to fire me over?

I’m not talking legal issues here, just general principle. I agree that posing for Playboy should not be a firing offense, but might not the Olive Garden tune change if those same women employees appeared (clothed!) in a Denny’s ad? You know, "Hi, we work at Olive Garden but we much prefer to eat at Denny's!" And following that logic, what if I work for Penthouse and pose for Playboy?