Posted on 11/07/2011 9:59:34 PM PST by ConservativeStatement
One Broward County drug counselor has been fired and another suspended for an incident in which an "N-word" was used. Not necessarily "the N-word," but a word that might have been mistaken for it.
The two sanctioned workers told investigators the word was "niggardly." That word, meaning miserly, is of Scandinavian origin and has nothing to do with race, says an attorney for one of the disciplined workers.
But the county sided with a substance-abuse client who took offense. He filed a complaint saying a counselor called him "n----- dumb" in a June meeting with two workers at a county rehab center.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
Some of my best friends are niggardly.
The world has gone mad.
Remember, it's your fault when someone else is ignorant.
This country is soooo screwed.
Black holes are racist too.
Yes, apparently. But don't forget, the devil will use your own morality against you.
His first name is Niger; MSNBC misspelled it.
The real "N" word is prominent in ebonics, too.
Maybe the PC bureaucrats need to compile a list of English words forbidden in a business environment?
We can call it Kindergarten English.
Using the Left's zero tolerance policy towards use "of the -N- word" it doesn't matter if it was misspelled or not.
Using the Left's zero tolerance policy towards use "of the -N- word" it doesn't matter if it was misspelled or not.
On purpose.
Nigel I think.
Well, regardless, a federal investigation is warranted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger_Innis
Niger is, of course, Latin for “black,” which seems appropriate.
These incidents of the use of “niggardly” seem odd. It’s pretty much an archaic word, used almost never in normal speech and even rare in books.
Niggardly dumb? That makes no sense.
Someone is lying.
I agree. Makes no sense, and if this is the context in which the word was used, he should've been fired. To turn a non-racial word into an offensive use of the word because he thought he COULD, is beyond dumb on his part. IF that is what happened.
Call someone colored and see what happens.
Yes we have The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
I once had a white co-worker who was from South Africa. He used to tell everyone he was African-American. LOL!
I think it depends on usage.
For example, if you were to say, “Zero is niggardly,” then it is a perfectly acceptable word.
The workers are appealing, and the matter might be headed to arbitration.
"It's Kafkaesque," said Sam Fields, Suskind-Assidon's attorney. "How is she supposed to report something that isn't an offense?"
Tworetzky disputes the county report, but declined further comment.
Suskind-Assidon and Fields said that at an appeals hearing last week, county official Tom Hutka said "niggardly" was a word that could be misconstrued and he "wouldn't use it."
As a writer, I'd never use it either. Given its similarity to the combustible N-word, it could only lead to confusion and problems. But making it a firing offense seems over the top.
Suskind-Assidon said she called Tworetzky into the meeting with the substance-abuse client after she sensed the client was "holding back" in his recovery efforts.
According to Suskind-Assidon, Tworetzky told the client he was being "niggardly" about opening up. The client took offense. She said Tworetzky explained it and they later looked it up in the dictionary.
It's not a word I use in every day conversation, but my name is not "Eron Tworetzky", either.
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