The Arapahoe County Commissioners asked Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson Tuesday afternoon to investigate a series of possible hate crimes against two county employees. The action was taken after the employees contacted 9Wants to Know to find out why more wasn’t done to find who hung nooses, inserted unwrapped razor blades in a tool belt, and made continuous racial jokes directed towards them.
Both employees have asked that their full names not be used.
The incidents involve the only two African-American employees in the Weatherization Dept. of Arapahoe County. The department helps elderly and low-income families install insulation, water heaters and furnaces as part of Colorado’s Leap Program in Adams and Arapahoe County.
According to a Nov. 8 internal memo from the Arapahoe County human resources department, in September one of the employees noticed a foot-long blue nylon rope in the form of a noose hanging on a hook in the cab of one of the work trucks for the Weatherization Dept.
In October, the same employee went into an insulation trailer at the start of his morning work shift. Inside, was another foot-long blue nylon noose with a dead squirrel hanging from it. Also in October, a number of unwrapped razor blades were found in a tool belt used by an employee. The employee was not aware the blades were in his belt. Inappropriate jokes and comments were made with racial inferences.
The two employees contacted 9News after the Nov. 8 memo was sent to the employees of the Weatherization Dept., because no other action was taken other than a warning that the behavior was not appropriate.
The incidents were not immediately reported to Human Resources even though a supervisor was notified by one of the men about the squirrel carcass hanging in a noose. The supervisor removed the squirrel carcass immediately, but didn’t notify his managers.
A news release sent out by Arapahoe County late Tuesday afternoon describes the incidents as a “workplace prank.”. But the two men, David and Jay, say they are certain the actions were directed at them and these “certainly weren’t pranks.”
Each man talked with 9News, one saying “It scared me and I was shocked that someone would do something like that because this is 2007 and I thought the world had changed.”
The other said, “I loved my job. I was helping others who needed it. Now, everything has changed. I don’t know if I can continue to work there.”
The men described continuous racial jokes directed at them. Examples include: “It’s the day before Halloween. Everybody bring their sheets.”
David and Jay believe that’s a reference to the Klu Klux Klan. One time, when one of the men came in covered in insulation dust, he was accused of “trying to be white.”
All contacts are being referred to Sheriff Robinson.
Only after 9News contacted the Human Services division of Arapahoe County was a consultant brought in to meet with the 28 employees on Monday morning to explain appropriate behavior in the workplace.
