Monorail operators lose jobs
Passenger cites offensive rap music
Two operators of the Mud Island River Park monorail were fired Wednesday after a letter to the editor printed in The Commercial Appeal said one of them was playing rap music with repeated uses of the N-word while ferrying a group of passengers across Wolf River Harbor.
Craig Akers’ letter said that he, his family, and several other tourists were riding the monorail May 26 and had to listen to the song, which he couldn’t identify, coming from the direction of the monorail’s operator, David Williams.
After reading the letter in Wednesday’s newspaper, managers of the Riverfront Development Corp. elected to fire Williams for playing the music on
a personal device, as well as another employee who was on the train for not reporting him. The nonprofit RDC manages amenities along the riverfront under a contract with the city.
Williams denies playing any music during his shift, particularly music that might offend others, because he knows it’s against company policy.
“I cried today about my job,” said Williams, who returned as a seasonal employee for the second time this summer.
Akers was surprised to learn Williams had been terminated because of his letter, adding that he felt it was an overreaction to fire anyone, particularly the second employee who did not appear to be responsible for the music. “But maybe it’s the right thing to do to send the message that this isn’t the way we treat our guests,” he added.
Akers said he made no effort to notify managers at the time because he assumed no action would be taken, and wasn’t sure who to call on the phone about it later.
“Everybody I would have been complaining to that day was African-American,” said Akers. “The fact that I’m white, complaining about that style of music with that word in it, I’m automatically labeled a racist. It’s a tense situation.”
RDC vice president Dorchelle Spence said managers interviewed employees the day the letter was published, and opted to fire the pair immediately after determining it was not an isolated incident.
“When the infraction is so egregious, then swift action is necessary,” Spence said. “Mud Island River Park is a family-friendly amenity and we just won’t tolerate that.”
Williams spoke with an attorney Thursday, he said, because he feels the employees were pressured to say things that weren’t true.
“I was falsely accused, put in the paper and then fired. That’s not right,” Williams said.