Mississippi nurse fired after photo showing him voting in a racist T-shirt goes viral
You may not be required to dress up on Election Day, but it turns out that you could lose your job if you wear an offensive T-shirt to the polls.
A Mississippi man lost his job this week after a photo spread virally showing him voting on Tuesday while wearing a T-shirt featuring a Confederate flag and a noose. It read, “Mississippi Justice.” People identified the man to BuzzFeed News as Clayton Hickey.
Olive Branch, Mississippi. Nov 6th, 2018. pic.twitter.com/UN4vzu8tK2
— smokeySr🐶🐶🐶 (@smokeydaQue1212) November 7, 2018
It later came out that Hickey was a nurse at Regional One Health, and the nonprofit tweeted on Wednesday that it was investigating the photo. The following day, it confirmed on Twitter that the employee pictured had been fired.
“As of today, November 8, 2018, we have completed our investigation and what we learned led to the termination of the employee in question. Regional One Health holds employees to a high standard,” one tweet read.
The thread went on to say, “We are committed to upholding our mission to provide compassionate care and exceptional services to all. This includes fostering a safe and protected work and care environment for all. Behaviors contrary to these principles are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
Regional One Health is committed to a safe, secure, and comfortable work environment for our patients, guests, employees, and medical staff. All allegations of inappropriate behavior and violations of trust involving employees are reviewed and investigated. 1/5
— Regional One Health (@RegOneHealthFDN) November 8, 2018
We take this process seriously and are committed to following all necessary steps to verify the truth. On November 7, 2018, we became aware of a photo circulating on social media of an individual identified online as an employee of Regional One Health. The Regional One Health 2/5
— Regional One Health (@RegOneHealthFDN) November 8, 2018
Although a few social media posts erroneously claimed that Hickey was a poll worker, he was simply casting his own ballot in Olive Branch, Miss., on the Tennessee border. However, he is a former cop, according to The New York Post.
Rashaud, whom BuzzFeed News identified only by his first name, saw Hickey wearing the shirt and shared a photo with a friend, who later posted it on Twitter.
“When I saw him I wanted to say something, but my mom was like, ‘Don’t say anything,’ so I took a picture and posted it on Facebook,” Rashaud told BuzzFeed News. He has since deleted that post.
He went on to explain how shocked he was to see the shirt at his polling place, while the community was gathering to elect their next government officials.
“It’s crazy — they try to say the rebel flag is not racist, but to have a noose on the rebel flag, it’s like, what are you trying to say?” Rashaud said. “It just shocks me that people feel it’s OK to come out in public like this. I was just kind of shook up.”
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