*The director of a Clay County nonprofit group, who was removed from her position after making a racist Facebook post about first lady Michelle Obama, will return to her old job later this month, according to the Charleston Gazette Mail.
A letter from the agency’s acting director states that Pamela Taylor, whose online post referred to Obama as an “ape in heels,” is on suspension and is scheduled to return to work at the Clay County Development Corp. on Friday, Dec. 23, according to the letter from Leslie McGlothin to the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services.
Below, more details behind the initial suspension of Taylor via the Charleston Gazette Mail:
The Clay County Development Corp. is a private nonprofit organization, and Clay County’s second-largest employer, according to a recent study from Workforce WV. The organization provides senior services and financial assistance to elderly and low-income residents of Clay County.
Taylor became the CCDC’s director in 2007. She was paid $75,000 in 2008 and almost $83,000 in 2014, according to tax returns from the group. The previous CCDC director, Betty Stalnaker, made about $63,000 before she retired.
The governing board has 12 members, including Taylor. Board members are unpaid, and vote on decisions that affect CCDC programs.
According to meeting minutes obtained through a public records request to the Bureau of Senior Services when Taylor was initially suspended, board president Eunice Thomas and board secretary/treasurer Donald Holcomb decided on Taylor’s suspension. Thomas, Holcomb and other board members did not respond to requests for comment.
Before she became director, Taylor was briefly removed twice from her job at the CCDC.
In 1999, Taylor and two other employees lost their jobs when Clay Development’s board was restructured. Within a few days, a judge ordered that all three get their jobs back.
Taylor said in a lawsuit deposition that she was removed from her job again in 2002 after she was accused of pocketing fundraising dollars, but was hired back after a few months.
In 2009, Clay Development listed the job requirements for the executive director position. The director was supposed to have, at minimum, a bachelor’s degree with 10 years’ experience.
Taylor said in a 2008 deposition that she attended Clay County High School and had no college education. Prior to joining the Clay Development staff in 1989, she was a cosmetologist.
It’s unclear if the organization’s bylaws have been changed. Clay Development staff members refused to give the Gazette-Mail the most recent copy of the bylaws.
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