On September 25, UNCG terminated the employment of three persons in the university's public relations department and they were arrested on felony charges of operating a photography business on University time and with University property.[10] On September 29, the story broke on a local blog. University faculty and staff protested the firings and arrests.[11] On October 30, the district attorney dropped all criminal charges against the three former employees. UNCG defended reporting the incident to legal authorities, but announced that the former employees had the right to appeal their termination through the personnel grievance system.[12]