That’s right up there with someone being FIRED for making a “racial slur” when they used the word “niggardly.”
David Howard wasn't fired. There was a lot of howling, and he offered his resignation, which DC mayor Anthony Williams accepted. In a few days, sanity was restored and Wiliams hired Howard back.
It was silly that there was ever any controversy, but there's no need to make more of it than there was.