A white Hamden public schools employee left her job after a video caught her unleashing an “n word” tirade and spitting at a black man inside an East Haven ShopRite.
The video shows the encounter. After the video went viral, the woman resigned her office job with the school system.
The Hamden Board of Ed issued a statement describing how it reacted:
“We have become aware of video footage that appears to show an employee in our district engaged in abhorrent conduct. Specifically, the video appears to show the employee repeatedly calling an African-American man the N‑word in a supermarket in East Haven. The video also appears to show the Hamden employee spitting at the aforementioned African-American male as he was walking away from the employee. It also appears that the employee’s children witnessed her conduct. Because her children were present, school administrators filed a DCF report.
“While it appears as though this happened after work hours on Friday evening, the Human Resource Director has already contacted the employee and arranged an investigatory meeting with her. Shortly after final arrangements were made today for the investigatory meeting, the employee tendered her resignation effective immediately. The language the employee used in the video is in conflict with the values of the Hamden Public School System. Someone who will use that sort of language in any setting whether public or private is not someone we want anywhere near our children. The employee is separated from service, and we hope that her children will receive the support they need after witnessing such a traumatic event.”
Elected officials from both major parties subsequently issued statements condemning her actions.
Mayor Curt Leng, a Democrat called the incident “vile and shocking” and said he was “disgusted and disheartened seeing such hateful behavior, wildly unacceptable.”
Republican State Sen. George Logan, whose district includes Hamden, called it “shocking. Disturbing. Disgusting. This video made me sick to my stomach. As a community, we must condemn these actions in the strongest of terms.”
And her reference to East Haven while using the N word is symbolic of the painful history of race relations that town continues to grapple with.