A probationary Detroit firefighter was fired before he even started the job after bringing a watermelon with a pink ribbon to his newly assigned station as an introductory gift.
According to television station Fox 2, Robert Pattison, 41, went to Station 55, with a 90 percent African-American firefighter population, bearing the ribbon-wrapped watermelon, instantly offending many at the station. The customary gift is usually doughnuts for the voluntary, traditional introduction.
Second Battalion Chief Shawn McCarty told the television station that it could be seen as racially insensitive to bring a watermelon to a fire station with a predominately black workforce.
One firefighter told the station it was a "bad call" at the very least.
Fox 2 spoke to Pattison by telephone and he said it wasn’t a joke and he didn’t mean to offend his fellow firefighters.
Fire Commissioner Eric Jones had a different take on the incident and said Pattison, a Fenton native, was officially discharged.
Jones said in a statement: There is a zero tolerance for discriminatory behavior inside the Detroit Fire Department. On Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at Engine 55, a trial firefighter (probationary employee) engaged in unsatisfactory work behavior which was deemed offensive and racially insensitive to members of the Detroit Fire Department. After a thorough investigation, it was determined that the best course of action was to terminate the employee of this probationary employee.”
Fox 2 reported that the firefighter union did not object to the commissioner’s decision while some firefighters had hoped Pattison remained on the department so they could teach him why it was wrong to bring the watermelon to the station.
Battalion Chief McCarty thought there were other options than termination and told Fox 2 he didn’t think Pattison should have lost his job.
