Official Who Called First Lady an 'Ape' Fired Permanently

State says WVa nonprofit director will be replaced
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 28, 2016 1:21 AM CST
Official Who Called First Lady an 'Ape' Fired Permanently
First lady Michelle Obama pauses while speaking to military families at the White House during a preview of the 2016 holiday decor last month.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The West Virginia nonprofit director who was suspended and then reinstated after calling Michelle Obama an "ape in heels" is out of the position for good. The office of Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says Pamela Taylor, Clay County Development Corporation's executive director, has been removed from her job and the Appalachian Area Agency on Aging will temporarily take charge of the nonprofit, which assists the poor and elderly, reports the Charleston Gazette-Mail. Officials didn't mention Taylor's racist remarks on social media, but they said the CCDC, which receives state and federal funding, had failed to follow nonprofit law in several areas, including responding to public-records requests.

"Following the state's request for specific assurances that the CCDC is following anti-discrimination policies, we have been assured that Pamela Taylor has been removed from her position as CCDC director," the governor's office said in a statement, per Reuters. Taylor caused outrage the day after the presidential election with her Facebook comment that she was "tired of seeing an ape in heels" and that it will be "refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified first lady back in the White House." Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling stepped down after being criticized for responding to Taylor's comment with the words "Just made my day, Pam." (A doctor lost her job after referring to the first lady as "monkey face.")

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