Belgian Day Care Worker Fired For Wearing KISS Shirt

February 8, 2009

Universal Entropy reports that a 20-year-old man was fired on his first day of work at the Belgian day care center De Mereltjes this past week because he showed up on the job wearing a KISS t-shirt with a print of Gene Simmons in a classical pose. According to the director of the day care center, Kathleen Buysse, several of the parents and staff reacted to Yannick Houbben's shirt (see photos below) because it reminded them of the the acts of Kim De Gelder, a 20-year-old who stabbed 15 people in another Belgian day care center on January 23, killing two babies (6 and 9 months old),and one day care worker. (At the time, many media outlets reported that the murderer's face was painted in white and black, something that was later proven to be false.) One father was enraged and vowed not to let his kid return as long as Houbben was still working there.

Houbben was asked to go home and change his shirt, which he promptly did. While at home, he received a phone call from Buysse, who informed him that he should not bother to come back to work, and she proceeded, according to Houbben, to compare him to De Gelder, the murderer from Dendermonde.

"Too much has happened here," Buysse told the De Standaard newspaper. "I think it would be better for him if he could start over with a clean slate somewhere else. It would also be too hard on the parents, who would have to see him every day."

Houbben is reportedly planning on suing the day care center for wrongful termination.

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