School employee who made offensive remarks is fired, SC officials say
A staff member at a South Carolina school was fired after making “offensive and unacceptable remarks,” the Charleston County School District said Monday.
The employee, who was not a teacher, was placed on administrative leave a day before losing the job, the school district said.
“We are extremely disappointed with the former employee’s offensive and unacceptable message, and we think that our swift action this morning conveys our commitment to the district’s values and principles,” school district officials said.
The school district did not publicly identify the employee, or the content of the message it said was made on a public news outlet’s website.
The former staff member’s post included racist remarks about the Black Lives Matter movement, WCSC reported.
It was made in response to a post about South Carolina State Rep. JA Moore saying he wants a statue of John C. Calhoun to be taken down, according to WCIV. Calhoun was a U.S. vice president and senator who was a slave owner in South Carolina in the 1800s.
The school district said it learned about the remarks Sunday, saying it was “extremely disappointed with the outrageous message.”
“CCSD does not condone these types of offensive messages and apologizes for any harm caused by this individual’s actions,” school district officials said Monday.
This is not the only incident where a person employed by a South Carolina school district has lost a job over a post on social media about protests and rallies against police brutality and social injustice.
Public scrutiny of violent incidents involving law enforcement has intensified following the death of George Floyd, a black man, in Minneapolis last month.
Protests have been held across the U.S. in response to Floyd’s death on May 25. It’s the latest in a series of deaths of African American men in police custody, and has sparked national outrage since a video showed a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck before he died.
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 10:51 AM with the headline "School employee who made offensive remarks is fired, SC officials say."
