Man who questioned black family at pool loses job

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A white man who challenged a black family’s use of a private community’s pool has not only resigned from the homeowner’s association board — he also has lost his job.

Sonoco announced Friday that Adam Bloom is no longer employed by the packaging and industrial products company, saying it doesn’t condone discrimination of any kind, even if it happens outside its workplace.

A video posted on the Facebook page of Jasmine Abhulimen on July 4 shows what happened after Bloom questioned whether she was allowed to be at the pool in Winston-Salem. He also called police.

Bloom, Abhulimen and the responding officers all speak in measured tones in the video. She accuses him of singling out her and her young son as African Americans by asking to see her identification. Bloom, who served as the chairman of the pool, responds that he asks residents to see their identification “a couple times” each week.

Officers then determined that Abhulimen, who lives in the neighborhood, did in fact have keycard access to the gated pool.

An officer then apologized to her. When Abhulimen asked Bloom for an apology, he walked away.

On Facebook, Abhulimen accused Bloom of racial profiling: “This is a classic case of racial profiling in my half a million $$ neighborhood pool. This happened to me and my baby today. What a shame!!”

The social media backlash was fierce, and soon targeted Bloom’s employer. In a Twitter post , South Carolina-based Sonoco apologized to Abhulimen and said the situation doesn’t reflect company values.

An attorney for Bloom told the Winston-Salem Journal that he had simply been performing his duties as a neighborhood official after another woman approached Bloom questioning whether Abhulimen had the right to be poolside.