Racist or not racist: Airport employee sends email about black co-worker that includes monkey from cartoon
A Wayne County Airport Authority employee says a co-worker sent a racist email about her. Nyota Ellis got wind of the cyber note last week, which was sent to employees and executives in the authorities real estate department.
The email is of a cartoon character with a short, brown bob, and may be recognized to some as the character Francine from the children’s TV show Arthur.
“I knew immediately knew it was about me – I’m the only African American in that department,” Ellis tells FOX 2’s Andrea Isom. She also says she came to work with a new haircut that resembles the character’s hairstyle and two hours later the email began circulating.
The subject of the email was ‘Take a look’ and included a message that reads, ‘See attached. If you can’t figure this out I’ll explain later. =) ‘.
The Wayne County Airport Authority released the following statement:
“The Airport Authority has a long-standing policy of not discussing personnel matters in public. That being said, WCAA takes any complaint of discrimination very seriously. The organization’s values are posted through the workplace and they include: teamwork, accountability, customer service, integrity, employee respect and embrace diversity.”
Ellis filed a formal complaint with human resources.
Should the employee who sent the email be fired?
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