White mom sends racist text to black nanny then fires her because she felt "uncomfortable"

[EffieBlack]

But how DARE anyone call her a racist.

Plasco-Flaxman claims that they had a bad experience with the nanny immediately preceding Maurice, and that nanny just so happened to be black, so this time, they were hoping not to get another black, but to instead get a Filipina.

Joel Plasco, who is co-chairman of the Dalmore Group investment bank, told the Post “[My wife] had sent her something that she didn’t mean to say. She’s not a racist. We’re not racist people. But would you put your children in the hands of someone you’ve been rude to, even if it was by mistake? Your newborn baby? Come on.”
...
{E}ven though Maurice had given them no indication that she harbored any ill will toward them, because they displayed racism and acted in poor taste, they immediately deflected and shifted the burden of that bad behavior onto Maurice—as if it was her fault they made the racist comment.
...
They are not used to being held accountable because white privilege and white supremacy are the most intoxicating drugs ever. To be caught out there red handed as it were was probably the worst thing to happen to either of them.

The thing is, if you know you did something offensive—which they clearly admit to in their defense of why they fired her—why would you fight back against settling up with someone to whom you had promised a job and then taken it away because of your own gaffe?

https://www.theroot.com/white-mother-accidentally-sends-racist-text-to-her-blac-1829412359

Sometimes SMH just isn't sufficient and something more pithy is in order ...

SMH ...Wypipo.

[MLAA]

1. And the first thing out of every racists' mouth when they are caught red handed being racists is

“I’m not racist” or “That’s not who I am” ...I say yes you are and yes it is.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Attitude carries where excuses die.

Plasco-Flaxman and her husband believe a stereotype about blacks and made choices based on that bias. And their nanny was subjected to insult and humiliation on top of being fired.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

4. Being fired does not look good on one's employment record, either.

Even though the lawsuit appears justified, that too will be an albatross around her neck to many future employers.

[djg21]

15. It's a stupid lawsuit.

That has no merit. The couple that hired the nanny may be despicable, but they are not a large company or business subject to Title VII, and they are free to enter a personal services contract with whomever they want. I think they are correct that a continuing employment relationship with the nanny is untenable. There is no law preventing private persons from being stupid or bigotted. The best thing that could come out of this is that the couple has been outed and hopefully faces scorn from friends and neighbors. Maybe they do right and pay the nanny a good sized severance.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

17. Good points, thanks.

I suppose unless they mistreated her in a criminal fashion, she has no standing in a court. But as you say, the publicity will probably do them more harm, especially if they don't apologize and make amends.

[maxrandb]

22. Suit might be doomed to fail

but, there is a way to ensure that the Dalmore Group investment bank where Joel Plasco is co-chairman feels some financial pain.

This stuff is NEVER going to change until rich, white folks start losing some fucking money.

Just like Hate-Radio is NEVER going to change, until those local radio stations start getting constant pressure applied to them.

[LisaL]

21. I don't think one has to mention one day employment on one's CV?

By the way that's an exuberant amount of money these people were going to pay their nanny. $350 per day? I am not defending these people, by the way. It doesn't sound like a good reason to fire someone because of you own behavior.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

25. Going rate for good nannies in Manhattan? - Don't have a clue.

That's definitely in a another world from me, LOL. They definitely were in a bind over this event. I agree with others that they should have sincerely apologized to the woman and gave her a very nice severance check for amends.

I thought by now, even the wealthy had learned to watch what they say on social media but I guess some have to learn the hard way!

I sincerely doubt if this has changed their levels of racism, elitism and prejudice, though.......

[KY_EnviroGuy]

3. Best lines to me in the article...

(snip)

They are not used to being held accountable because white privilege and white supremacy are the most intoxicating drugs ever.

and (snip)

“My wife was two months off having a baby, suffering from a very difficult situation. You’re going to go after someone like that?

What the hell do they think millions of poor and middle class people do after "a very difficult situation"? - fly off for rejuvenation in the French Riviera?

.......... .........

[joshcryer]

8. Wealthy people do not understand the poor existence.

It is incomprehensible to them. Literally a different world.

Having a "live in nanny" for the first few months is all the rage with wealthy mothers. No need to change diapers, no need to stay up at all hours of the night as the nanny walks around holding the child, etc.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

10. Exactly.

For most Americans, a mother only leaves her young children to others not of choice but because they must work to survive, and they have to pay a baby sitter out of their pay if they have no kin folk to depend on. That process is not good for child development and harms the parents psychologically as well.

That's a direct result of raw, unfettered capitalism along with the anti-tax/anti-government environment we live in. The right-wing Evangelicals then clutch their pearls and wonder why our morals are going to shit.

You're exactly right, it is a completely different and separate world that's mostly invisible to us......

[riversedge]

5. so, since the wife claimed she had a bad experience with the first black nanny, she

just naturally thought she would have a poor experience with the second black nanny that showed up!! whow. Then she freaked out and sent the 2 texts which she MEANT to send to her husband, but in her freakish state, sent to the new nanny.



.............Take for example Lynsey Plasco-Flaxman, a white mother of two who is married to Manhattan financier Joel Plasco. The New York Post reports that in 2016, the mother set out to hire a new nanny to help with her children after the last one didn’t work out. When her new nanny showed up, Plasco-Flaxman freaked out because she was black.

Plasco-Flaxman was so freaked out that she tried to text her husband to let him know that a black had showed up to their home to care for their children. She took out her phone and fired off a text that said “NOOOOOOOOOOO ANOTHER BLACK PERSON.” Plasco-Flaxman was so flustered that she sent the text to her husband twice.

Except...the text didn’t go to her husband. It went to the new nanny herself, Giselle Maurice. Oops.

When Plasco-Flaxman realized her mistake, she immediately fired Maurice saying she felt “uncomfortable.”

[ismnotwasm]

6. But "we're not racist"

Another example of not knowing or caring what racism.

[joshcryer]

7. They actually think their explaination is viable.

What a joke.

Unfortunately this woman probably won't win the case as I'm sure the contract will have a settling in period, since she was supposed to be a live in nanny.

But isn't it nice to have the money to be able to have a newborn and hire a live in nanny who will change all the diapers and do all the holding and feeding? New trend among rich mothers, they don't change a damn single diaper. It's all rosy for them. Meanwhile the nanny is caring for the baby, doing the dishes, cleaning the house, whole nine yards.

[oberliner]

9. Here are the details of the lawsuit

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/25750480/Maurice_v_PlascoFlaxman_et_al

[EffieBlack]

11. This is a paid site

No, thank you.

[oberliner]

12. Worth it if you are a court junkie!

[EffieBlack]

13. $50 to "lurk" so I can read one complaint and some procedural pleadings?

No, thank you, Boo.

[oberliner]

14. The Root article you posted included the same link to the same site

Just wanted to highlight it as well for anyone who might be interested in getting the source documents.

You can get a free trial for 14 days and then cancel.

[Hortensis]

16. Effie, this fault isn't white, it's human. Almost nothing is more common

than turning against someone else for one's own wrongdoing, especially someone you've wronged or caused to regard you poorly. Why? there are long rows of books on various aspects. Choose a discipline. Most people don't even know when they're doing it, usually they've just taken a dislike to someone and ascribed it to something else entirely. Contemptible, but not racially linked.

This is of course definitely linked to privilege, even to the small amount that allows low-income people to pay for childcare with an extra bedroom and meals. It's shocking how quickly and commonly even a little power corrupts and leads to indulgence of that power to hurt others.

"They are not used to being held accountable..." Lol. No kidding. What's really worthy of noting, though, is that these prijpepo ARE being held accountable. Whatever protection of privacy their personal life should normally have was blasted by their abuse of another person.

Last, the egregious displays of privileged white men attempting to use their power to abuse an entire nation has a lot of emotions stirred up. But let's keep intellect firmly engaged and the kind of emotions this couple so contemptibly indulged securely on a leash.

[EffieBlack]

18. This was all driven by racism

Perhaps you missed her racist text that triggered the whole thing?

As for your suggestion that I and anyone else reacting to this couple's not untypical racism don't have our "intellect firmly engaged" because we're overcome by "stirred up emotions" that we need to keep "securely on a leash," I'll simply say thank you but no thank you for your advice and suggest that you do some self-reflecting before writing anything else so stupid and revealing since, next time, I might not be able to keep my stirred-up emotions leashed and will fully engage my intellect to read you the Riot Act.

[Hortensis]

19. Of course that situation was driven by racism. My blind cat

couldn't miss that, and I wouldn't feel comfortable asking those mean people to take care of her even over a weekend. It'd be my fault if they found some "good" reason not to.

"White people cannot ever deal with the consequences of their actions. They are not used to being held accountable because white privilege and white supremacy are the most intoxicating drugs ever."

Sooo untrue as stated.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

27. "It's shocking how quickly and commonly even a little power corrupts and leads to....

...indulgence of that power to hurt others." How true, Hortensis and I've seen it happen to the most meek of men.

When I want relief from my disgust of some human behaviors, I just imagine how things were say, 50,000 years ago or just relate it to imagined "cave man" behavior. We still have those primitive evolutionary behavior patterns in our genetics and people shouldn't be shocked when they appear. We still have a lot of evolving to do, and our technology is way ahead of us.

[struggle4progress]

20. "We're not racist. We just don't like black people. Yes, we told the nanny that twice.

But that was just an unfortunate accident. I guess it was rude --- but it wasn't racist. We really don't have anything against black women being nannies. We hear that some of the best nannies are black. We just don't want our nanny to be black. Actually we wouldn't mind having our own black nanny, except that we already accidentally told this nanny twice that we don't want a black nanny, so it would seem like we were waffling now if we didn't fire her. It's so important to be firm and decisive with those people, because they'll take advantage, and you know how hard it is to find good help nowadays. So it's all a terrible misunderstanding, but as you can see we really had no choice now"

[EffieBlack]

23. "And we paid her for the day even though she didn't even work. What more do these people want?"

[HipChick]

24. Upper class wealthy British people

are some of the most racist people you'll ever come across..

[marybourg]

26. I'm glad my every interaction with another

human didn’t become fodder for the entire world’s comments. And I’m glad I’m old enough to have a good chance of being dead, before that happens. Although, of course, I’m perfect, and never had even a momentary lapse in judgment.

[EffieBlack]

28. Wow.

[johnp3907]

29. Well, haven't you heard Effie?

It’s not racism anymore, it’s just a “momentary lapse in judgment.”

[EffieBlack]

30. And shame on that mean old maid or nanny or whatever she is for suing those nice people over their

lapse and putting all their business on front street for the whole world to comment on. Once again, Wypipo are victims.

When will it stop?