WE REPORTED ON THIS A FEW DAYS AGO (SEE BELOW)
Here’s a surprising update to the story of a white firefighter who was fired for bringing a watermelon to work…we kid you not!
Now, the fired firefighter is receiving support from an unlikely group…the very same firefighters he brought the watermelon to!
FOX 2 Reports:
A fired Detroit probationary firefighter is getting a big show of support.
Robert Pattinson was fired after bringing a watermelon to his new post at Engine 55 at Joy and Southfield after some African-American firefighters there were offended.
Pattinson, a 41-year-old from Fenton who is white, told FOX 2 by phone that it was not a joke. But Fire Commissioner Eric Jones officially discharged him afterwards.
But Tuesday a social media post by Tadarius Spearman stuck up for Pattinson, including a group photo of him with other African-American firefighters.
“Just want to let everyone know he’s a real amazing dude and it was all good intentions,” he wrote. “And our entire class (is) supporting him in this. Especially us African-Americans and that’s all that needs to be said. Stay up brother. #DFD.”
Last week Jones released a statement to FOX 2 saying there was zero tolerance for discriminatory behavior inside the Detroit Fire Department.
“On Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at Engine 55, a trial firefighter (probationary employee) engaged in unsatisfactory work behavior which was deemed offensive and racially insensitive to members of the Detroit Fire Department,” Jones wrote. “After a thorough investigation, it was determined that the best course of action was to terminate the employment of this probationary employee.”
HERE’S OUR ORIGINAL REPORT:
We cannot believe this story coming out of Detroit (see video below)!
It’s tradition for a new firefighter to bring donuts to the new people he’ll be working with. This guy brought a watermelon with a pink bow on top. You won’t believe what happened next…HE WAS FIRED!
Sooo now we have to be sensitive to what food we bring to our fellow employees? If you’re always offended about everything then pretty soon it’s like the boy who cried wolf…NOTHING is offensive! Would you be offended?
The fire department is calling this “discriminatory behavior”? Huh?
https://www.facebook.com/cookJcook/videos/1927038794284117/?permPage=1
Could it be that sometimes a watermelon is just that…
A “RACIALLY INSENSITIVE” WATERMELON?
<a href=”http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/detroit-firefighter-fired-for-bringing-watermelon-to-station”>Fox 2 Detroit</a> reported:
Wow! 41-year-old Robert Pattison went to introduce himself to his fellow firefighters at Engine 55 at Joy and Southfield in Detroit. Second Battallion Chief Shawn McCarty calls it a tradition for firefighters.
“It’s not mandatory, it’s voluntary,” he says. “You come in bearing gifts. The usual gift is doughnuts, but you are allowed to bring whatever you want to bring in.”
And Pattison, a probationary firefighter, decided to bring a watermelon wrapped in a pink ribbon. We’re told some African-American firefighters were instantly offended, since 90 percent of the people who work at Engine 55 are black.
