In response to Marty Wilder’s commentary in the “Other Voices” column in Monday’s Era:

In the workplace, we are paid for our behavior. Behavior that is designed by our employer to achieve the results we get paid for. We are essentially under contract to behave in the manner our employer is paying for.

This is no different than unpaid service when one accepts the responsibility of representing an institution’s sports team by wearing the uniform. Furthermore, engaging in any activity by which an individual voluntarily assumes the identity of the organization they represent, by default, carries with it the responsibility of engaging in behavior acceptable to the organization being represented.

Would it be acceptable to wear a team uniform to a bar, engaging in perfectly legal activities involving alcohol consumption? Remove the uniform and shed the ties to the organization, and the individual then has every right to express themselves under the provisions of our country’s letter and spirit of law. However, it is wrong to assume that the same protection exists when an individual is representing someone other than themselves. Therefore, and regardless of how one feels about kneeling during the National Anthem, the fact is that it is wrong to misrepresent the values of an organization, team, or individual unless the person(s) “wearing the uniform” has the expressed consent of those being represented.