Jury: No, a white TV anchor getting fired for using the N-word is not racial discrimination
A federal jury on Tuesday rejected a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a white Philadelphia TV news anchor who was fired for using the N-word.
Former Fox29 anchor Tom Burlington argued that his employer created a double standard by allowing black employees to use the slur and not allowing white employees to do so. In his complaint, Burlington claimed he was “discriminated against, retaliated against and subjected to a hostile work environment based on his race.”
Burlington reportedly used the word several times while discussing a story with black co-workers, and then used the word again while apologizing to them. He also told his black co-anchor Joyce Evans that someone else had called her a “N— bitch,” according to testimony reported by the Philadelphia Daily News.
A week after the discussion, Burlington was suspended without pay, and later fired after the Daily News reported he had used the epithet.