The Yale dining hall worker who smashed a stained-glass window last month due to its “racist” nature — it had depicted “slaves carrying bales of cotton” — plans to formally ask the university, via his union, to reinstate him to his position.
Although Corey Menafee was charged with two offenses by Yale police, the college doesn’t plan to follow through.
Menafee resigned his position shortly after the incident. Yale denied any connection between the dropping of the charges and the resignation.
The Yale Daily News reports that Menafee had been “alerted” to the offensive window by an alumnus two weeks prior to the window smashing. The Yale graduate stated that “no employee should be subject to coming to work and seeing slave portraits on a daily basis.”
In the same article, Menafee’s lawyer, Patricia Kane, said that her client wants his job back. “He just wants to work in an environment that leaves him free to focus on his work instead of being exposed to distressing images,” she added.
Menafee had met with a representative of his union, Local 35, Yale Human Resources generalist Christine Hayden, and Yale dining hall general manager Gina Gentile to consider “work related ramifications of this incident.”
The latest from the Daily News:
[Attorney] Kane […] said that although she and her client are grateful that Yale is dropping the charges, that action alone will not “bring a good outcome.”
“Real justice would involve putting him back in the job that he was good at,” Kane said. “So what we’re trying to do is establish a dialogue with Yale.”
Yale Vice President for Communications Eileen O’Connor told the News Friday afternoon that a representative for Menafee has contacted Yale and the two parties are in a process of setting up a meeting.
MORE: Yale worker destroys ‘offensive’ stained-glass window, college destroys the rest
Kane said she hopes that by next week, the parties will be be able to “work out a resolution where both sides come out satisfied with the outcome.” For her client, that means getting his job back, she said.
Menafee has also obtained a copy of his resignation agreement. According to Kane, the agreement only specifies that Yale would not seek restitution for the window, valued at $2,500 in a police incident report. The document does not include a quid pro quo in which Menafee would resign for Yale not to pursue charges, Kane confirmed.
Kane said her client had been under the mistaken impression that if he resigned, Yale would not press charges in return.
A GoFundMe page was set up for Menafee on July 12 and currently has over $23,000 of its $25,000 goal to “assist Menafee and his family while he is unemployed.”
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