It’s 2015, yet a Rockland County newspaper still managed to publish a job ad specifying that Haitians need not apply. In an ad that ran in the October 15 edition of the local Pennysaver, Interim Healthcare announced its criteria for a nursing position in West Haverstraw: “Laid back nurse, no haitians, must have strong respiratory mngt.”
Unsurprisingly, no one seemed quite able to explain how the bigoted listing ended up in the paper, but everyone was quick to apologize. “The ad was mistakenly published without proper editing protocol,” said the Pennysaver in a statement. “We recognize the wording was highly offensive to our readers, executives as well as the employees of The Pennysaver and by no means does it reflect the opinions or feelings of the company.”
Interim Healthcare president Katherine McNally said the company “[values] diversity” and found the ad “totally unacceptable” and “offensive.” “Please accept our sincere apology. In particular, we apologize to the entire Haitian community,” she wrote. “I can assure you that we take this seriously. We have engaged an independent third party to conduct a comprehensive review of what occurred. All policies and procedures will be reviewed to assure that it will never happen again.”
New York State senator David Carlucci, who represents the area, told CBS 2 that he’s asking the New York State attorney general, the Department of Labor, and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate. In the meantime, let’s hope the right person gets fired.
