A restaurant waitress in suburban Chicago says she lost her job because she wore a tea party bracelet to work.
Megan Geller said she wears a yellow bracelet her mother gave her with the words "Don't Tread on Me." That's a phrase often seen and heard at tea party rallies.
Geller says a couple she was serving at the local Outback Steakhouse took offense and complained.
Company officials tell a different story. They say Geller was inattentive to diners at two tables and say that if the bracelet had been a problem, managers would have told her to remove it.
Outback has not challenged Geller's claim for unemployment benefits. But some in the community say the company violated her free-speech rights.
Copyright AP - Associated Press