Posted on 10/07/2017 2:14:34 PM PDT by TigerClaws
DETROIT (WJBK) - Fired before he officially started.
Last Monday, 41-year-old Robert Pattison went to introduce himself to his fellow firefighters at Engine 55 at Joy and Southfield in Detroit.
Second Battallion Chief Shawn McCarty calls it a tradition for firefighters.
by Taboola Sponsored Links Ad Content U.S. Trust: The Growth of Wind Power & Its Economic Affects From U.S. Trust The States Most Affected by Rising Sea Levels Zillow "It's not mandatory, it's voluntary," he said. "You come in bearing gifts. The usual gift is doughnuts but you are allowed to bring whatever you want to bring in."
photo And Pattison, a probationary firefighter, decided to bring a watermelon wrapped in a pink ribbon.
We're told some African-American firefighters were instantly offended since 90 percent of the people who work at Engine 55 are black.
"When you get your first detail at a firehouse you pretty much know what you are getting yourself into," said Patrick Trout. "So you would have to say it was probably a bad call."
FOX 2: "Is it racially insensitive to bring a watermelon into a fire house?"
"To some people," McCarty said.
FOX 2 spoke to Pattison by phone who claims it was not a joke - and he did not mean to offend his fellow firefighters. But he clearly did.
Fire Commissioner Eric Jones says the Fenton native was officially discharged.
In a statement Jones says: "There is zero tolerance for discriminatory behavior inside the Detroit Fire Department. On Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at Engine 55, a trial firefighter (probationary employee) engaged in unsatisfactory work behavior which was deemed offensive and racially insensitive to members of the Detroit Fire Department.
"After a thorough investigation, it was determined that the best course of action was to terminate the employment of this probationary employee."
In a world where racial tensions run high, some tell me the trial firefighter should have known better. Trout doesn't know if he meant anything by it - but feels it was a bad choice.
"For sure by far it was,"
The question is did DFD take it too far?
FOX 2: "Should he have lost his job over a watermelon?"
"I don't think so," McCarty said. "Between what he did and what was there are a few things that could have been done."
He was talking to another guy, a new guy. I guess these guys work on commission and sort of "own their routes", so to speak.
So, trying to help the new guy out he said something like, "You should go down to XSY, there is a black lady with a bunch of nice cars over there, I bet that would be a nice account".
Something to that effect. That innocuous.
Within the next few days, he was called down to his supervisor's office. He was reprimanded and made to sign some kind of form that acknowledged he understood what he did. They told him if he refused, he would be terminated.
Soviet level.
Feel absolutely nothing at all for the ignorant.
For those who love the taste of watermelon on their tongue and palate, I suggest try cantaloupe or possibly, bananas the next time food is considered. IF COTTON in the bowl can set off a justice warrior in a retail store, it is not surprising a green watermelon can cause a group of burly, he-man firemen to freak out and raise their skirts.
In a statement Jones says: “There is zero tolerance for discriminatory behavior inside the Detroit Fire Department.
Then why are they discriminating against watermelon and against people who like watermelon?
Short Watermelon Futures.
My favorite National Lampoon cartoon showed a black sharecropper dressed in rags standing in a watermelon garden in front of his rundown shanty.
He’s holding a watermelon in his arms, and the watermelon
is saying, “Let my people go.”
PD&S Matters!
Fired? What horse manure!
Not partial to watermelon but do love pickled watermelon rind...(not black either) So now that the NFL is soon to vanish...they go after watermelon growers and cotton bolls?
I hope he sues those racist clowns into the ground.
What the heck does this have to do with the article you posted?
Then I guess greens, chitterlings, and hush puppies are flat out.
I love watermelon. This is in one of the bastions of idiocy, Detroit.
I'm going to sue anyplace that sells them or their derivatives.
God help any black person I see eating French Fries.
This was childish and laughable a month ago, now it's affecting livelihoods.
Somebody better grow up.
” Zero tolerance for discriminatory behavior”.
Sure. I’d like to speak to the 10% of staff that are not black to confirm.
Mr. Pattison got an education in the SJW movement. Now he knows.
We are all missing the elephant in the room. The other fire fighters should be fired for punishing this person for being gay. That pink ribbon is what caused the problem! He should be made fire captain after the others are fired—gay- bashing!
At least he didn’t bring a bunch of bananas.
What is wrong with watermelon. Unless it has to do with food allergies the whole thing stinks.
[I’m Irish. I’m triggered by potatoes.]
NO SALT BOILED FOR YOU!
There has GOT to be more to this story.
I can’t believe that grown men whose job it is to risk their lives running into fires, would clutch their pearls over the sight of a watermelon.
It also makes me wonder: should the non-black people who rely on these firefighters be asking the question... “Would they save ME and MY home?”
hey, potatoes gave us vodka and Fries. Other veggies need to step up their game.
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