Reinstate Christopher Piggott as Deputy Sheriff -- Tattoo or No

There is a waiter in a local restaurant in Parkersburg, West Virginia trying to keep himself afloat.  His name is Christopher Piggott.  He has a small child and works three jobs to make ends meet.  He has a tattoo on his arm that has military and religious meaning to him.  Unless you asked to, you wouldn't see the tattoo.  He covers it with a lightweight longsleeve shirt under his uniform shirt.  It is pictured beside this article here.

Photo of Christopher Piggot's tattoo courtesy of NewsandSentinel.com

To read entire article listed on the site, please follow the link below:

http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/529293.html

Because of the sherriff of Wood County, West Virginia, he has lost his job wrongly.  The Sheriff's name is Jeff Sandy.  Before Christopher was fired, he was a Deputy Sheriff for Wood County, WV.  The sheriff told him to remove it.  Christopher refused.

Some people have tattoos.  Some do not.  In some circumstances, they can be inappropriate, especially if one does not make an effort in covering the tattoo because they just do not want to and feel they need to be seen as is regardless of what company or location they happen to be in or at in any particular time.  There are those who, despite efforts to conceal their tattoos for regulatory purposes, are persecuted anyhow. 

Personal expression is a good thing and so are rules and they should be followed or face consequences, but this case seems very harsh.  This young man has a tattoo on his forearm which is a pair of praying hands with a set of dogtags hanging from them and above it reads in a scriptic cursive "Unless you were there" and below in block writing, reads USMC. 

This is a very sentimental tattoo with a religious undertone and it signified his military service.  Christopher Piggot has served for five years and has done two tours of service in Iraq.  He was asked to remove the tattoo but because of the strong sentimental value, he refused.  A few days later, he was terminated. 

There have been others hired since with tattoos visible but he was the only one terminated for this problem.  Why?  There is no other answer aside from a new regulation that was instated early this year.  If he was in violation and others as well, why only him? 

Christopher Piggott is the father of a small child and divorced.  He is a well-groomed, clean cut gentleman who is a very courteous person and does not strike one to cause trouble or be a problem.  But still, the sheriff fired him.  It is noted in the article on the link above that he was terminated without following procedure and very quickly. 

We should stand up for this gentleman and show the sheriff's office that he needs to also follow the rules and unless there is good reason or that someone is gravely offended by someone's markings, he should and will reinstate Christopher Piggot as a Deputy Sheriff of Wood County, West Virginia.

Please help us and those like Christopher Piggot who are former military and trying to make their own way as citizens and sign this petition.  Tell the sheriff of Wood County that he cannot do as he wishes without proper procedure or due process.  Tell them -- courteously, please -- how you feel about this injustice and place your signature on this petition.

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