How in the world did this woman get another job on the St. Louis court system?
This makes no sense, whatsoever. Mary Ann Twitty was one of three Ferguson employees fired after a Department of Justice civil rights investigation. She was fired for a series of hideous emails that the DOJ described as
“unequivocally derogatory, dehumanizing, and demonstrative of impermissible bias.”
Among them was a Dec. 6, 2011 forward from Twitty to Mudd and Henke of "insensitive one liners" that referenced a Muslim clothing store, floods in Pakistan and pedophilia. There was also a June 7, 2011 email from Mudd to Twitty that made cracks about welfare recipients being unemployed, unable to speak English, lazy and having no "clue who their daddies are."
Twitty also sent Mudd an October 2011 email that included a photo of a bare-chested group of dancing women, apparently in Africa, with the caption, “Michelle Obama’s High School Reunion." In April 2011, she sent both Mudd and Henke a photo that depicted the president as a chimpanzee.
She defended herself after the report saying that
she's not racist:
“Funny as in humor wise? Yes. Not because it was racist or biased, just funny because it was just funny jokewise,” Twitty said. “I feel bad because that's not, I don't want people to look at me and say ‘she sent those racist jokes out because she's racist or biased.' I am not.”
Twitty said she was simply doing what others in Ferguson's government were doing.
“It took me a while to get over the feeling of being raped and being thrown under the bus,” Twitty said. “I'm human, I meant nothing bad by it.”
Well, officials in Vinita Park, Missouri—which is only 7 miles away from Ferguson—must believe she's reformed, because they incredibly
gave her a new job:
Mary Ann Twitty is reportedly working three days a week as court clerk in Vinita Park, a city of only 1,880 people just a few communities southwest of Ferguson. The city has not yet responded to questions about the specifics of her employment there, but two employees confirmed with a reporter Friday that she was now working for the court.
It's incredible this woman was hired by another St. Louis-area court. She was cited as one of the
biggest problems in the Ferguson court system:
....cited in the DOJ report over and over and over again for racism and corruption. She was the first person fired by Ferguson Mayor James Knowles. While she dismissed tickets and citations for white judges and friends, she pushed and pushed for every penny of every fine to be paid by African Americans every chance she got. She sent flagrantly racist emails openly to her colleagues as if they all must have shared her beliefs.
Come on, St. Louis County. Get it together.
Sat Aug 08, 2015 at 7:07 AM PT: Updated info from Daily Kos user TomP (via Yahoo News) on Vinita Park Mayor James McGee's decision to hire Twitty:
To McGee, who is black, Twitty was worth forgiveness and a second chance.
The mayor described Twitty as contrite and remorseful during his "extensive" talks with her about the Vinita Park opening. McGee said he was aware of circumstances that cost Twitty the Ferguson job she had held for nearly two decades. But he said Twitty was the most-qualified applicant.
"If we can find the best candidate — I don't care if he or she is black, white, blue or green — I'm gonna bring them in," McGee said.
This still seems like Vinita Park is unnecessarily putting their city at risk for future claims. And while the mayor may have forgiven her, other city officials did not know who she was:
Vinita Park Alderman Richard Redel said that when the city's governing board signed off on hiring Twitty, "no one said where she came from and why she was unemployed." Redel said the board was told only that the local court needed part-time help and that Twitty was qualified.