But if they do keep him and next week another member of staff has a dust-up with a colleague, then where do the BBC stand?
Let's assume for sake of argument that Clarkson has punched this bloke, does it mean that punching the canteen staff because they've run out of chips is ok at the BBC?
It's not really a petition about Clarkson though is it. It's a petition about the BBC. It was started by political blogger Guidio Fawkes who knew exactly what he was doing. He is using Clarkson to attack what he sees as a left leaning BBC.
I'd like Mr Fawkes to be held to account. What exactly...