Morgue workers fired for ‘mocking grieving black families and bringing in black penis cake after George Floyd’s death’
THREE employees at a morgue in Michigan have been fired after a worker brought a cake decorated with an image of a black penis into the lunch room, according to a report.
The offensive cake was served one day after George Floyd died while in police custody, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The Macomb County morgue has been plagued with other allegations, including pornography being hung in an office and Black people being mocked by employees, according to the local paper.
A complaint was filed with the federal government by one employee over the cake which resulted in the three female employees being fired.
“I was livid — furious actually,” the woman said in a recent interview with the Free Press.
“All these cities are on fire for the Black Lives Matter movement, and here’s my staff eating a black penis cake as a joke? That really pushed me over the edge.”
The cake was allegedly left for four days in a conference room, despite complaints from staff.
The woman, who is a death investigator. filed the complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“There has been an ongoing hostile work environment within the Medical Examiner’s Office since I have been here,” the July 18 complaint states.
“The office culture is tainted with racism toward people of color. This was not only ignored by managing personnel, but participated in by the supervising staff.”
The woman who filed the complaint is Black and alleges she was told “go deal with your people,” whenever an African American family deemed “difficult” by staff came in to identify a family member.
She claims one her colleagues made a disparaging remark when the parents of a dead black man arrived and had trouble identifying their son, according to the report.
“Show them a picture of his penis,” the employee replied, according to the complaint.
“Maybe they’ll recognize him by that.”
A fourth member of staff remains on paid leave as investigators continue to look into the allegations, which also include sexist behavior.
“We don’t want anyone working in a place that’s unwelcoming, unsafe and not inclusive,” said Macomb County Human Resources Director Andrew McKinnon in a statement.
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“We’re supposed to set an example. When we hear these types of allegations, we take them seriously and we take quick action.”
McKinnon added the three fired employees were let go over sexual discriminatory complaints, rather than complaints of racism.
A second complaint, which was filed to the EEOC in 2016, is still pending.