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Owensboro Man Says He Was Fired After Reporting Racial Slur

Owensboro NAACP Facebook Page

An Owensboro man says he was fired after reporting racial discrimination by a co-worker.

Jamar Jackson, an African-American told the local NAACP that he was fired after being called the n-word by a coworker, who is white, while working at a local Walmart.

Owensboro NAACP President Rhondalyn Randolph said her office has received three similar allegations this year about hate speech made while on the job.

“Where people were called the n-word, or some derogatory racial slur, and nothing was done about it.” 

Randolph wants people to understand the seriousness of workplace discrimination, and follow through on complaints when it happens. 

“Make sure that people take seriously the incidents of discrimination because it still happens.” 

Randolph said the NAACP is planning to investigate the incident. Both employees involved in the incident at Walmart were placed at the company through People Ready, a national temporary worker staffing agency.

Jackson said he immediately reported the situation to his supervisor at the temp agency who contacted management at Walmart. Both Jackson and the other employee were later escorted off the premises and asked not to return to work.

People Ready told the Owensboro Times Jamar’s firing was the result of miscommunication and that Jamar remains on good terms with the temp agency.

Becca Schimmel is a Becca Schimmel is a multimedia journalist with the Ohio Valley ReSource a collaborative of public radio stations in Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio. She's based out of the WKU Public Radio newsroom in Bowling Green.
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