In the savviest public relations move since LeBron James announced that he’d be taking his talents to South Beach, BAE Systems OASYS has besmirched Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor recipient, after the Marine quit his gig promoting their products. Meyer resigned the job with OASYS after finding that the company pursued sales of its weapons systems to the U.S.’s nominal (at best) ally, Pakistan. When Meyer quit and tried to secure new employment, BAE, in an apparent fit of petty vindictiveness, “ridiculed his Medal of Honor, called him mentally unstable and suggested he had a drinking problem,” thereby costing him the new job. Being a Marine, – and one who saved 36 fellow lethernecks while killing eight Taliban in the bargain – Meyer’s not taking this lying down…
According to the AP via yahoo.com, Meyer’s suing his former employer.
In a defamation lawsuit filed in Texas, Meyer alleges that his former employer, BAE Systems OASYS Inc., ruined his chances at landing a new job by telling a prospective employer that he was a poor worker during a three-month stint earlier this year.
A BAE Systems manager said Meyer “was mentally unstable, that Sgt. Meyer was not performing BAE tasks assigned and that Sgt. Meyer had a problem related to drinking in a social setting,” according to the lawsuit.
Nice. Next up, BAE will be announcing that the Marines’ Toys for Tots campaign is actually a front for a kiddie porn production ring.
Meyer, like most sentient being, knows that Pakistan plays both sides of the fence with America. They ostensibly support the US fight in Afghanistan. But at the same time, they harbored Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban enjoys safe havens in the northwest part of the country and their ISI intelligence service actively supports our enemies with weapons and intelligence. All of which was too much for Meyer to stomach.
Meyer wrote that it was “disturbing” how U.S. troops were being issued outdated equipment when better, advanced thermal optic scopes were being offered to Pakistan.
“We are simply taking the best gear, the best technology on the market to date and giving to guys that are known to stab us in the back,” Meyer wrote in the email, according to the lawsuit.
Roehrkasse, the BAE spokesman, said it is the State Department and not BAE that makes the decision on which defense-related products can be exported.
“In recent years, the U.S. government has approved the export of defense-related goods from numerous defense companies to Pakistan as part of the United States’ bilateral relationship with that country,” Roehrkasse said.
It’s not our fault! The U.S. government said it was OK! Honest! Soon OASYS will testify that they were just following orders.
It’s hard to see how the PR hit BAE OASYS is sure to take over this is worth justifying the loss of a Medal of Honor wearing spokesman by telling the world he’s a drunk. Even if everything they’ve said about Meyer is true, what can possibly be gained by publicly throwing him under the armored personnel carrier?
After this debacle, BAE may want to look for a good PR firm. Preferably one with strong crisis management skills. But there’s apparently no truth to the rumor that, as their next celebrity spokesman, they’ve hired Lon Horiuchi.