A car salesman in Oak Lawn, Ill., was fired on Monday for wearing a Green Bay Packers tie to work and refusing to remove it.

"I didn't know you could get fired for wearing a tie," John Stone told McClatchy News about his dismissal from Webb Chevrolet.

"I'm supposed to dress up. I'm a car salesman."

Jerry Roberts, the general manager at the suburban Chicago dealership, asked Stone to remove the tie when he reported to work -- a day after the Packers beat the Bears in the NFC title game.

Stone told McClatchy he thought Roberts was joking.

Later, Roberts approached Stone in the showroom and demanded the tie come off. Stone, who was wearing the tie to honor his late grandmother -- a Packers fan who was buried Friday -- refused.

Roberts fired him. He confirmed that he dismissed Stone because of the tie.