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09-12-2007, 12:52 PM
Ropes Tied As Nooses: Three Germantown Employees Dismissed
Eyewitness News Everywhere received the following news release Tuesday evening, September 4, 2007:
"In response to speculation regarding the dismissal August 24 by Germantown City Administrator Patrick Lawton of three employees assigned to the Germantown Performing Arts Centre, the following information is provided.
Two weeks ago, the three employees intentionally left three ropes tied in hangman’s nooses suspended from the rigging in the stage area. In general, especially in the South, the hangman’s noose conveys a racist message. An African-American employee saw the nooses and reported to his supervisor that he was “hurt and offended” by the presence of them. In response, City officials immediately began an investigation into the complaint of a hostile work environment, conducting it per established City policy and procedures.
All parties involved in the incident were questioned and given the opportunity to explain their involvement. Lawton was told that the ropes were tied in that manner to keep them off the floor while it was being refinished and that those who tied the nooses were practicing knot tying. Separately, a fourth employee acknowledged that one of the three had placed his own head through one of the nooses. The three professed ignorance of the racial overtones associated with nooses. The City of Germantown found their professed lack of awareness to be implausible.
The City does not condone or tolerate any action or behavior that creates a hostile work place for its employees. It will not exempt or excuse employees from the consequences of their inappropriate behavior. As a result one full-time employee, Matt Strampe, and two part-time employees were discharged."
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/5145195/10478043/277769039.jpg
Photos Released of Nooses Found Hanging in Germantown Performing Arts Centre
Three employees were fired from the Germantown Performing Arts Centre on August 24 after an investigation revealed they rigged hanging nooses in the stage area.
Photos of the nooses were sent to Eyewitness News Everywhere Wednesday, September 5, 2007.
Germantown City Administrator dismissed the three employees after an investigation sparked by an African American employee's complaint.
During initial conversations with employees and during investigative interviews, one employee, Matt Strampe, said he asked the two part-time workers to show him how to tie a noose. Strampe also admitted that it was a knot hardly ever used in theatre.
The investigation also revealed after the ropes were in place, one of the employees placed his head through one of the nooses and the three workers were heard joking about "hangman's noose".
Investigators say on at least two other lines in the stage area, the ends were secured with knots that in no way resembled nooses.
Investigators made these observations in coming to their decision:
If the purpose of the knot-tying was to secure the ends of the rope to get them off the floor and out of the way so floor finishers could work, why were chairs left on the floor?
Why does a technical director for a performance theatre not have an adequate knowledge of knotting, and why did he need to ask stage workers to teach him, by his own description, "a rarely used knot?"
Germantown city leaders say they do not condone or tolerate any action that creates a hostile work environment for its employees.
Eyewitness News Everywhere received the following news release Tuesday evening, September 4, 2007:
"In response to speculation regarding the dismissal August 24 by Germantown City Administrator Patrick Lawton of three employees assigned to the Germantown Performing Arts Centre, the following information is provided.
Two weeks ago, the three employees intentionally left three ropes tied in hangman’s nooses suspended from the rigging in the stage area. In general, especially in the South, the hangman’s noose conveys a racist message. An African-American employee saw the nooses and reported to his supervisor that he was “hurt and offended” by the presence of them. In response, City officials immediately began an investigation into the complaint of a hostile work environment, conducting it per established City policy and procedures.
All parties involved in the incident were questioned and given the opportunity to explain their involvement. Lawton was told that the ropes were tied in that manner to keep them off the floor while it was being refinished and that those who tied the nooses were practicing knot tying. Separately, a fourth employee acknowledged that one of the three had placed his own head through one of the nooses. The three professed ignorance of the racial overtones associated with nooses. The City of Germantown found their professed lack of awareness to be implausible.
The City does not condone or tolerate any action or behavior that creates a hostile work place for its employees. It will not exempt or excuse employees from the consequences of their inappropriate behavior. As a result one full-time employee, Matt Strampe, and two part-time employees were discharged."
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/5145195/10478043/277769039.jpg
Photos Released of Nooses Found Hanging in Germantown Performing Arts Centre
Three employees were fired from the Germantown Performing Arts Centre on August 24 after an investigation revealed they rigged hanging nooses in the stage area.
Photos of the nooses were sent to Eyewitness News Everywhere Wednesday, September 5, 2007.
Germantown City Administrator dismissed the three employees after an investigation sparked by an African American employee's complaint.
During initial conversations with employees and during investigative interviews, one employee, Matt Strampe, said he asked the two part-time workers to show him how to tie a noose. Strampe also admitted that it was a knot hardly ever used in theatre.
The investigation also revealed after the ropes were in place, one of the employees placed his head through one of the nooses and the three workers were heard joking about "hangman's noose".
Investigators say on at least two other lines in the stage area, the ends were secured with knots that in no way resembled nooses.
Investigators made these observations in coming to their decision:
If the purpose of the knot-tying was to secure the ends of the rope to get them off the floor and out of the way so floor finishers could work, why were chairs left on the floor?
Why does a technical director for a performance theatre not have an adequate knowledge of knotting, and why did he need to ask stage workers to teach him, by his own description, "a rarely used knot?"
Germantown city leaders say they do not condone or tolerate any action that creates a hostile work environment for its employees.