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Jefferson Health fires employee over racist Facebook post

A Jefferson Health employee who posted an invective-filled, racist rant on social media was fired Wednesday after her screed went viral.

Jefferson University Hospital on 11th Street in Philadelphia.
Jefferson University Hospital on 11th Street in Philadelphia.Read moreANDY GRADEL / Wikimedia Commons

A Jefferson Health employee who posted an invective-filled, racist rant on social media was fired Wednesday

after her screed went viral.

Diane Amoratis, 53, of Bridesburg, apparently wrote the inflammatory Facebook post after Saturday night's Black Lives Matter protest in North Philadelphia.

"They should have bulldozed the BLM protest at the 24/25 district last night. Disgraceful!!!" read the post. "I am sick and tired of all this b- with the black people!!"

The diatribe, which also praised police restraint at the protest, smoldered unnoticed for a day before it was shared tens of thousands of times by outraged Facebook users across the nation.

Once word got out that she worked at Jefferson, many who saw the post demanded that Amoratis be fired.

On Wednesday afternoon, the hospital posted, "The individual is no longer at Jefferson."

A spokeswoman for the health system said Amoratis was not a nurse but declined to provide further information.

Amoratis did not return several phone calls requesting comment. Her Facebook account has been deleted, but the screed lives on, since it was copied by other users.

She is one of several people across the country, some in law enforcement, who have been reprimanded or dismissed by employers for Facebook messages about recent police shootings.

A corrections officer in Louisville, Ky., was suspended after reposting a picture of a police officer captioned, "If we really wanted you dead all we'd have to do is stop patrolling your neighborhoods . . . and wait."

A police officer in Omaha, Neb., was placed on paid administrative leave, and a Detroit officer was demoted, both after posting notes accusing Black Lives Matter protesters of racism.

A sheriff's officer in Anderson County, Ky., was fired for an expletive-laden post that called for shooting African Americans in the face; a police officer in a suburb of Kansas City was dismissed after threatening a 5-year-old black girl; and three Columbia, S.C., firefighters lost their jobs for critical comments about Black Lives protesters.

Because it is not a government entity, Jefferson can fire people at will, said a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

"There may be some union agreement that protects the worker, but it wouldn't be a First Amendment protection," ACLU attorney Sara Rose said.

If public employees make racist comments, the employer may be able to dismiss them over statements that could erode public trust and damage community relations, Rose said.

In Jefferson's case, public trust was an issue many Facebook commenters raised. Numerous people flooded Jefferson's Facebook page to say Amoratis' words were especially incendiary from an employee of a healing institution that serves a racially diverse city.

A social-media consultant said employees are often surprised at the consequences when their words go viral. But it's the employees' responsibility to know their company's social-media policy and to be cautious about making public statements, said Evan Urbania, CEO of ChatterBlast, a consulting firm in Philadelphia.

"Employers are not looking to squash First Amendment rights," Urbania said. "But if you're posting hate language, that falls into a different category. You have to be aware of that."

In a statement on Facebook, Jefferson CEO and president Steven Klasko and chief human resources officer Jeffrey Stevens wrote that what employees say on social media can influence how people perceive the entire Jefferson system.

"Hate speech of any kind is unacceptable at Jefferson and is not consistent with our values, policies and the culture of inclusiveness, dignity and respect we continue to build here," they wrote.

samwood@phillynews.com

215-854-2796 @samwoodiii 267-259-7838