A Nashville, TN business fired 18 of its employees after they didn’t show up for work on “A Day Without Immigrants.”

According to reports, the employees at Bradley Coatings Incorporated did notify their superiors that they would be missing work, but the business sent out a memo stating that anyone who missed work would be fired.

Via News Channel 5: “We are the team leaders directly under the supervisors and they informed us last night that we could not go back to work and the boss said we were fired,” one employee told us.

Bradley Coatings, Inc.’s attorney released this statement: “Bradley Coatings, Incorporated (BCI) is a family-owned, Nashville-based business that provides commercial painting services to its clients on a very demanding schedule. . . BCI has always celebrated diversity and supported the immigrant community. . .  Because of the time-sensitive nature of the jobs, these employees were assigned to, all employees were told that they would need to show up for work or they would be terminated.  On Thursday, the majority of BCI’s employees fulfilled their obligations to our clients, but eighteen employees did not.  Regretfully, and consistent with its prior communication to all its employees, BCI had no choice but to terminate these individuals.  The reason these employees missed work—to engage in peaceful demonstrations—had nothing to do with BCI’s decision to terminate them. . .  BCI will review its procedures in an effort to avoid similar issues in the future, and will continue to provide timely service to its clients and support to the Nashville immigrant community.” – Robert Peal, Company Attorney

(Source: News Channel 5)