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Education

Custodian Claims School Fired Him for Complaining About Co-Worker’s Mistreatment of American Flag

Feb. 6, 2013 11:29am Liz Klimas

A custodian in a South Dakota school district took a video of an improperly folded American flag and posted it on Facebook along with a message asking people call the superintendent over what was supposedly repeated mistreatment of the flag. On Monday, the janitor says he was fired.

Cesar Zakahi said on his Facebook page that he was fired from Stanley County School District in Fort Pierre for standing up for the flag and that this video was part of the issue:

Here’s what Zakahi wrote on his Facebook page:

I was a custodian in a small town school gym, i posted on my fb Page a coworkers abuse of the United States flag, and was fired

He continued in a post Wednesday saying:

Hello I am Cesar zakahi i am the guy that got fired for posting the US flag being disrespected at my work, i was born and raised in South Dakota, i am a disabled vet, i in would do this again even though it cost my job to stop the disrespect of the flag,

Stanley County School District Custodian Says He Was Fired for Posting Photo of Improperly Folded Flag

(Image: Facebook video screenshot)

The school district’s Superintendent Don Hotalling told Keloland TV that Zakahi was no longer working for the school and that he was let go during a 90-day initial probation period since his hiring.

“We’re not mistreating the flag, nor have we, nor will we. We have no tolerance of that,” Hotalling said in a statement, according Keloland TV, but he didn’t elaborate on exactly if this was the main reason for Zakahi’s firing saying it was a personal matter. Keloland TV included Hotalling saying he is a military veteran who respects the flag.

Zakahi told Keloland TV that for two months he saw the flag being left unfolded and treated improperly. After such a time, he posted the picture (this original post seems to no longer be on his Facebook page) and told people to “Call the superintendent of the Stanley County School system and complain. On Monday, it might stop.”

Zakahi said Hotalling told him Monday these actions crossed the line and fired him. Hotalling though is reported as saying the Facebook post is not the reason for Zakahi’s firing.

The school board is meeting Wednesday to, as Keoland TV put it, “discuss personnel and legal matters.”

TheBlaze has reached out to Zakahi and will update this post if more information becomes available.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Comments (48)

Coonshine
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 3:23pm
Taking a flag down and folding it is a team effort. I’ve known schools to have volunteers or other orginizations just for this job. It teaches respect and responsibility. My children were always proud to be part of Honor Guard that handled the flag duties. I guess it aint no big thang in Stanley County, South Dakota….

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charliep8
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 2:33pm
I just called Superintendent Don Hotalling’s office and was told he was in a meeting and will call me back. Dr. Don Hotalling’s contact information:

http://stanleycounty.k12.sd.us/admin.htm

Hotalling said in a statement to Keloland TV: “We’re not mistreating the flag, nor have we, nor will we. We have no tolerance of that”. Obviously Dr. Hotalling has some problems with the truth because there are TWO (2) pictures of the flag rolled up in a ball – if that is not disrespect what is? See:
http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/custodian-fed-up-with-unfolded-flag-says-he-was-fired/?id=143467

Please call or email Dr. Don Hotalling and communicate with him that the district should reconsider their termination of Mr. Zakahi. Or contact the school board and tell them that Dr. Hotalling should be fired for (a) not taking action when initially when Mr. Zakahi informed him of the problem, (b) lying to the media stating that the flag is not being disrespected and (c) lacking the common sense to give Cesar Zakahi back his job.

Stanley County School Board
http://www.stanleycounty.k12.sd.us/board.htm

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- phillipwgirard
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 3:37pm
  Thanks for the link. just sent him a strong message,,,
  
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- WATCHMAN15
  Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:44pm
  I was messaging with Cesar Zakahi moments ago. He is on his way in a three hour drive to Sioux Falls, SD to do an interview for Fox News In The Morning, having to borrow money to make the trip. No doubt those making decisions for the Stanly Co School Board have no concerns for costs or being able to pay, they just pass the costs on to their tax payers. Mr Zakahi probably has his lawyer, also a veteran working pro bono, with him because he had agreed to do one interview that was sold to him as if it would be sympathetic to his cause but in fact it was seemingly biased for the board of education. We shall see. It just doesn’t make sense that he would have made the abuse and mishandling of the flag up, posting his concerns after first trying to ameliorate the situation properly through his chain of command, as if it were to justify some other reason for his, if one were to listen to the school board, or board of education, account, coincidental dismissal. That story just doesn’t make sense. As Judge Judy often says, “If it doesn’t make sense then it probably isn’t true.”
  
  Reader can express their support for Cesar Zakahi here:
  
  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cesar-Zakahi-Friend-Of-Our-Flag-And-The-Republic-For-Which-It-Stands/342917905824005?filter=3
  
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mohawk
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 2:03pm
The schools normally just leave the flags flying all day and all night with some light on it. That’s not disrespectful until one of the loops comes loose and the flag is just hanging by one end. Many times I have stopped to fix a flag that needed to be re-attached and found old, moldy cotton rope that has just rotted away. I fix it the best I can, and put her back up. Hope that doesn’t get me fired or shot. If someone would send me a stack of flags I would love to have some to offer the elderly who can’t afford to spend $25 on a new standard.

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BecksRedneck
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:45pm
My 12 year old son is only boy at his Middle School, plus an occasional helper, that raises the flag everyday and retires it in the afternoon, unless his teacher refuses to let him, because we’re a little late sometimes. He has done this even before he earned the right in elementary school, because there weren’t enough kids volunteering there either. If he doesn’t do the flag, it’s left to ladies in the office to do. Apparently my son is more mature than the janitor at the Stanley County School District in South Dakota.

Sorry you lost your job Cesar!

You would think that there would be more kids, even Boy Scouts, volunteering to do this.

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- rochrealtor
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 2:00pm
  Cesar, will be rehired after the media catches on. Thank you for standing up for what is right Cesar. We can work to fire the School official who disrespects our flag!!
  
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lildrummerboy
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:28pm
well with Texas asking kids to draw socialist/communist flags, is it any wonder that the schools don’t respect the flag we have…we have given up much our national heritage for a few squeaky wheels (i.e gays, muslims, socialists-communists) that make up a small percentage…its sad! I break inside when things like this continue to happen…

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Micmac
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:22pm
Another though: Maybe the socialist breading ground of a school this mis-folder went to had the same way of taking down the flag out of disrespect of our nation, if it even had one flying at all.
Non-union charter/christian schools IMHO. The only way to take away the socialist youth movement agenda of the far left.

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- RDavis49
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:33pm
  I totally agree….. When our children were of school age, we home schooled them up until middle school age. By that time I was out of the Army and we were financially able to put them into a Christian based school where common sense and truth was being taught. Correct…. The only way to stop the socialist brainwashing is to stop giving them the brains of our children to contaminate with their propaganda trash.
  
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RDavis49
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:16pm
@Micmac……. Thank You for being so kind to such a stupid mistake as what I just made… I did re-read it ….. I so apologize….

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elosogrande
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:15pm
it’s amazing to me that there are so many school administrators who are not smart enough to do the right thing; and on top of that, don’t have the balls to tell the truth about their actions. The parents should ask him if the photo of the flag thrown over a boiler or water tank was staged, because if it wasn’t, he’s a liar. He does disrespect our flag.

Rehire the custodian and assign him the task of handling the flag.

Fire the superintendent if he lied.

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- neocon1
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 4:31pm
  DEMOGRAPHICS and AFFIRMATIVE ACTION….see rev al’s picture for refrence.
  
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Micmac
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:07pm
If I was in his position and I saw the flag being mistreated I would have taken the minute it would take to properly fold it and put it in a proper location. When the other worker inquired to its location we would have a small polite lesson on proper care. If it was difficult to fold by only one person I’d offer to help when needed as part of duties. If it persisted then the next step could be considered. The Facebook post seems a bit immature as he did nothing to rectify the situation first. But all in all there was no reason to terminate this guy. Lots of lessons to be learned here.

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willingtoupe
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:03pm
What about sexy women that wore thong U.S. flag bikini outfits. No one complaint about that! Heck they could have used that bathroom and not wiped at all or even be on their monthly while wearing the Great U.S.A flag designed bikini. Besides, any flag that I payed for, is private property that I see fit for whatever I want to do. If I want to use the Southern Stars and Bars flag that I have payed for and see fit to use it as a withdrawl contraception wipe, so my bed sheet doesn’t get messy, then so be it.

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- Armyof One
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:28pm
  As long as the bikini is not made from an actual flag, there is no violation of flag ethic.
  
  I agree, he should have simply folded the flag. And if anyone asked why, then the etiquette lessen could be brought forth. Starting off with a video and complaints, is not the way to get on the good side of the people you are complaining about.
  
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RDavis49
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:58pm
At least IMO the school has done the right thing for a change. If this man has no respect or appreciation for the flag of this country, the school that employs him and/or the taxpayers that pay his salary, then he does not deserve any benefits of the aforementioned and was rightfull fired. This is the kind of patriotic attitude that should be solidly in the minds of all Americans. “Love it, Respect it, Appreciate it or Leave it” Good call Stanley County School District.

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- Micmac
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:09pm
  Re-read the article please.
  
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- RDavis49
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:10pm
  I have totally misunderstood the content of this article. Duuuuh moment, shame on me….. I hereby apologize to all patriotic Americans offended by my comment, I condemn the school for the firing of this man for being a loyal patriotic America and having respect for the flag and I retract my statement made above.
  
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- lildrummerboy
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:24pm
  you missed the point..they fired the wrong guy…they fired the guy who turned in another custodian for folding the flag wrong…
  
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- Pencil_trick
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:36pm
  Umm, the guy that got fired wasn’t the guy disrespecting the flag. I agree with another poster, he should have folded it himself and placed it in a respectful location(which maybe he did, the stoy doesnt say), if it happened again, talk to the co worker who was doing this. if it happened again then go up the ladder.
  
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Thighmaster
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:38pm
Schools are becoming alarmingly anti American and it’s getting really scary.

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- naughtycal
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:53pm
  It’s been time to start altenative schools based on facts and void of political correctness. Churches across the nation should stop given the charities and start setting up local programs as alternatives to public indoctrination.
  
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spfoam1
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:30pm
If what Cesar Zakahi says is true then Don Hotalling should be asked some questions. Who exactly was doing this to the flag, are they still employed, and if they are WHY? Has anything been done to correct this other than firing the man who revealed the problem. It sounds like Don Hotalling is reacting with vengeance to the embarrassing revelation rather than acting to correct the problem.

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chips1
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:19pm
Not anywhere in the story did it say that it was brought to the attention of the Superintendent. Did Zakahi just go directly to Facebook? Without that info, I can’t fault either side. It’s more of a “what if” type story.

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- Thighmaster
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:45pm
  Maybe was trying to remedy the practice and not so much the incident. Make sense ?
  
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Flag-Man
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:15pm
Semper Fi Vet

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Polarized America
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:12pm
..“We’re not mistreating the flag, nor have we, nor will we. We have no tolerance of that,”

so is the school saying this was a “False Flag” ?.<.— pun intended

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RaydocX
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:02pm
grammar check, Blaze…
until you read, this article sounds like the custodian was the one improperly folding the flag, for which he was fired.

and in point of fact, a termination EITHER for improper folding or for calling out improper folding seems groundless. If the former, teach the culprit the right way. If the latter, appreciate the alert and address the situation… just because an administration does not respect the flag and what it stands for is not justification to ignore standards set by our forebears, especially when the issue at hand has offended someone… isn’t that what tolerance and acceptance and inclusion is about? or ist that just PC talk, used to force Left thinking and actions into daily practice, not meant to be reciprocal…

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- HI_Don
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:01pm
  Knowing a few things about modern HR and employment contracts, my guess is that the school let go the vet for violating a typical social media use clause where he drew negative attention on his organization. Employees are required to handle all complaints internally to give the organization a chance to fix the problem without it becoming a public issue. That said, people have a free right of speech, but as always must stand ready for the repercussions and results of said speech.
  I totally agree the flag was mistreated, and agree the vet had every right to be upset. What we don’t know is what he gave the school a chance to do about it before he called on the public to demand action and made the school look bad on FB. If he had exhausted all resources and could not get the school to act on the issue, and he felt it worth loosing his job over then I salute the vet for his courage. If Facebook was his first choice, or even his choice after only dealing with the custodian on the issue, then I think it should have been handled better and I agree the school has the right to fire the vet for poorly handling the situation, but I would hope they at least corrected the situation with the flag by reprimanded the custodian or more. Those actions against the custodian would be protected by privacy, and the school would likely not talk about it. The Vet brought out the firing, the school will likely not say why for fear of lawsuit.
  
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toiletclogga
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:59am
I hope the custodian is telling the truth. Let’s see, this man was on a 90 day probationary period, and he is posting stuff on Facebook about disrespecting the flag, and the picture I appears to be the flag sitting on a filthy oil tank in a mechanical room. Something here is not passing the smell test!

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Cavallo
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:55am
As much as I respect my former military compatriots, I will not fly the American flag nor stand for the pledge or anthem until this country starts on a path of liberty. I’ve been naive for far too long, and it would be hypocritical of me to wade through such rituals when I no longer see the flag as standing for freedom, and liberty of the individual.

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- toiletclogga
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:03pm
  Conviction means that you respect the flag when nobody else will. I don’t understand your rationale. When the anthem is played, there are people who don’t remove their hats, clap and talk during the song, and don’t hold their hand over their heart. There are others that do remove the hat, stand at attention, don’t talk and hold their hand over their heart. What’s wrong with being an example of how it should be?
  
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- Rowgue
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:07pm
  The flag stands for what it stands for. Whether politicians or people in general adhere to those principles is irrelevant. When you respect the flag you are respecting what it stands for and the people who have died for it, not what other people are doing you don’t agree with.
  
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- spfoam1
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:10pm
  It sounds like you have jumped ship and swam to the other side. The flag doesn’t stand for any administration, it stands for everything we need to reach for when the going gets tough….the light in the fog.
  
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MCON29
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:53am
If it was during his 90 day prabation period, they can fire him for whatever reason they want. No matter how wrong it is. I seriously doubt the superintendant is personally responsible for lower and and folding the flag himself, but if he had knowledge, he is responsible for correcting them. It looks like its in the boiler room. Is that not the custodian’s responsibility? Definately some unanswered questions here.

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- Rowgue
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:09pm
  If you fully read the article he says it was a coworker mistreating the flag. So it was probably another custodian that was tasked with the flag duties. Schools don’t have one janitor you know.
  
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SocialistSlayer
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:53am
Yes, As an American I am calling for this dirt bag Commie Superintendent Don Hotalling to be Fired !

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DougHuffman
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:53am
I am irked by Sunday-patriots that hang a flag and leave it until it rots, usually unlit, un-cherished and forgotten.

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crazyrightwingmom
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:51am
He needs to be re-hired and given a commendation from the VFW, the DAR, etc.

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UBETHECHANGE
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:47am
Superintendent Don Hotalling is a lying commie dirtbag. Fire Don!

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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:32am
I have a 25′ flag pole in front of my house, and even my Son, Wife or I will properly fold the flag when we take it down. Always.

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- right-wing-waco
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:46am
  Darmok,
  Thank you for your respect for our nations symbol.
  
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- YOURSENSEI
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:16pm
  This is what you must know:
  
  Thank you for your service.
  
  It is so.
  
  Report this comment

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