NAACP: SunTrust Mortgage worker fired over e-mail

By CHRIS I. YOUNG

The NAACP says a 14-year employee was fired from SunTrust Mortgage Inc. in Richmond after she was accused of sending a chain e-mail she received at work that ultimately was forwarded to the NAACP.

The fired African-American employee said she found the e-mail offensive.

The e-mail contains pictures of 40 bumper stickers such as, "Clinton ruined a dress, Obama ruined a nation," "So I guess we're even on that slavery thing eh?" and, "Diversity -- It killed 13 at Fort Hood."

SunTrust issued a statement yesterday saying: "We do not endorse or condone the views expressed in the e-mail cited by the NAACP, and had already taken appropriate action to respond to the circulation of the e-mail."

A spokesman would not comment on whether others were reprimanded, citing personnel issues.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People released a copy of what it said was the e-mail sent by a SunTrust official to 13 office employees and one outside recipient under the subject line "FW: Bumper Stickers that Make Sense."

King Salim Khalfani, executive director of the Virginia State Conference NAACP, said several of the recipients were black and felt the subject matter was racially offensive.

One of the recipients forwarded it to Nicole Russ, a co-worker, writing, "I feel very offended. Look with (sic) this woman sent out to some of us!"

Russ, an accountant, said SunTrust conducted an internal investigation and then brought her into a meeting. There, she was told she was being terminated because her supervisor had "trust issues" with her and because of the e-mail, she said in a telephone interview.

She said SunTrust accused her of trying to go public with the e-mail by forwarding it to someone who would give it to the NAACP.

The official who sent the e-mail collected Russ' belongings and escorted Russ out of the building immediately after the Feb. 18 meeting, Russ said. She said she was paid through March 4.

"I always had good evaluations," she said. "He [her manager] said my performance was good. It definitely wasn't my performance."

Russ said she did send the e-mail to two people outside the company but only to see what they thought.

In its statement, SunTrust said: "We are committed to ensuring that our employees are treated consistently and fairly. And in that regard, this former employee can take advantage of our appeal process for another review of the facts that led to the decisions that were made."

Russ said she is in the process of filing a complaint with the Virginia Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

"They're trying to give her due process after the fact," Khalfani said. "She wouldn't have known she could appeal if I didn't intervene."

SunTrust said it was "dedicated to diversity in all aspects of our operations."