USA TODAY International Edition
HS guard who used slur fired, rehired
MADISON, Wis. – A high school security guard in Madison, Wisconsin, got his job back Monday after outrage over his termination spread across the country, prompting school district officials to overturn their decision to fire him for saying the N- word while urging a student not to call him the racial slur.
Marlon Anderson told supporters Monday his termination from the Madison School District was rescinded, five days after he was fired over the episode that drew outcry from thousands.
“I’m back!!” Anderson posted on Facebook. “Now we have to address the policy!! God is good!!!!”
A spokeswoman for the Madison School District did not immediately confirm Anderson’s announcement, but Madison Teachers Inc. union executive director Doug Keillor said Anderson will receive full pay and benefits until his return to school is finalized.
“MTI is pleased to see the District rescind the termination of Marlon Anderson, paving the way for him to return to the incredible work he does with Madison’s students,” Keillor said.
Anderson was fired under a zerotolerance policy district officials adopted after firing or forcing to resign six district employees for using racial slurs in front of or at students.
But Anderson, who is black, was fired for telling a student who also is black not to use the slur while repeating it himself in making his point.
More than 1,000 students – including Anderson’s own son – walked out of classrooms Friday to protest the school district’s decision.
Anderson said he will instead be placed on paid administrative leave while he and district officials negotiate a “transition plan.”
On Oct. 9, Anderson was escorting a disruptive male student out of Madison’s West High School building when the student started calling Anderson the slur after pushing the school’s assistant principal and threatening her.
“Every type of N- word you can think of, that’s what he was calling me,” Anderson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Friday. “I said, do not call me that name. I’m not your Nword. Do not call me that.”