Are you Black enough to keep your job? This was the apparent question asked of Rachel Brothers in 2006, as she held a position at the Black Educators Association (BEA) in Nova Scotia. Her colleagues and supervisor determined the answer was no and fired Brothers because of her skin color.
Brothers is biracial and fair-skinned. This prompted other employees of the BEA to take dramatic action and fire her, as they claimed she could not relate nor be of service to “real” or visibly Black educators.
One employee in particular, Catherine Collier, led the decision. It seems like there was just some girl-on-girl office drama as Collier felt that Brothers was too young and “not Black enough” to hold the position of regional educator at the BEA’s Annapolis Valley regional office. Brothers filed a discrimination case against Collier and the BEA, but Collier changed her story. They tried to attribute Brothers’ firing to financial irregularities, but no evidence was found. It was, however, determined that Brothers faced racial discrimination, with evidence that another employee even told her she “should go work for whitey.” Who says that?
Eight years later, Brothers has won her case. She was awarded $10,200 in compensation for her job loss. It is unclear what, if any, charges Collier will face.
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