Driver who muttered 'n-word' awarded jobless pay

[deadparrot]

A black bus driver who was fired by the Des Moines school district because she used the "n-word" in front of a black student who had threatened her deserves unemployment pay, a judge has ruled.

School officials have appealed the decision and say the Feb. 14 remark constituted job misconduct.

Anita Anderson, 48, of Des Moines was fired two days after the incident on her bus. According to state records, Anderson was driving students from Monroe Elementary School when a boy became disruptive and belligerent.

Anderson testified at a state hearing on her request for unemployment benefits: "I kept asking him to sit down. And he kept on and on. He said he was going to bust me in my face."

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070509/NEWS05/705090371/1001/NEWS

[rocktivity]

1. I agree--her termination was performance-related.

Had she said it to another school district employee, THEN it would have been misconduct.

:headbang:
rocknation

[MazeRat7]

2. Why is the kid not in Juvie-hall or on suspension ? She should never have been fired...

Sounds like the little cretin was making all the threats.. how are the "school officials" going to address that ?

She has 7 years on the job... and he is a punk with a loud mouth threating an adult... oh this is a fine world we live in....

MZr7

[TygrBright]

3. Yup. That's what unemployment benefits are for...

...well, partly anyway. They're there to make sure that even if you do something STUPID, you and your family ain't gonna starve if you lose your job.

The only exceptions should be if you do something deliberately malicious, criminal, or otherwise clearly demonstrating that you're trying to get your ass fired.

Coming out with the n-word is stupid, it may indicate thoughtlessness... if it's a white person using it, it may indicate racist attitudes which can (and should) receive appropriate remedial/disciplinary action, but it doesn't necessarily indicate deliberate, thoughtful malice.

Sadly, I know a lot of people with bedrock racist attitudes who know, intellectually, that they shouldn't have them, and try to keep them from being apparent. They try to be socially acceptable to the extent of not doing the obvious racist crap, but occasionally their own stupidity and insensitivity pop out... they're often aghast afterward, and I've even seen one woman cry and say "I'm sorry, I don't want to be like that," when it happened.

OTOH, a blatant racist who repeatedly uses offensive epithets even after a progressive discipline process, remedial actions, etc., is also being deliberately malicious and exhibiting contempt for their job. I'd be OK denying them unemployment in those circumstances.

Since this was a case of a black person calling another black person the n-word, it doesn't seem to fall into either of those categories, really. Why was she fired at all? She may have been over the line, verbally, but it looks like the kid was WAY over the line. Surely disciplinary action would have been sufficient?

suspiciously,
Bright

[Solo_in_MD]

4. Different rules for different races, how progressive of you

If the N-word is banned, then it is banned for everyone, regardless of the color of their skin. Otherwise it perpetuates things this society needs to get behind it.

[Kingshakabobo]

5. She wasn't excusing the use of the word. She was merely discounting one particular motive. n/t