WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A former West Bloomfield Township employee of the Treasurer's Office said photos of monkeys started appearing after she got hired.
Pamela Fladger submitted her letter of resignation to the township as well as an EEOC complaint.
Fladger, who is black, details what she calls a "disruptive and unprofessional" environment in the office, but it's the pictures of monkeys she's attached to her letter that's raising all sorts of eyebrows: A monkey in an email, a monkey attached to a sign outside her supervisor's cubicle and another monkey on another coworker's computer.
According to Fladger's letter to the township, "The monkey has no direct correlation to nothing (sic) that takes place in the department. It was a racial gesture, and everyone in the department knew why she placed the image on the sign."
This is just the latest round of internal turmoil at township hall. Last year, Deputy Treasurer Jared Maynard, who was forced out, sued the township and a cash settlement was reached. The details are confidential.
The Township Board, concerned over an internal audit of the treasurer's department which found incompetence, tried to oust Treasurer Teri Weingarden. Weingarden is an elected official and she can't be fired. Their maneuver didn't work.
Weingarden did not immediately return Local 4 News' phone call. Township Supervisor Michele Economou Ureste told Local 4 News she is aware of the situation, but is not going to intervene in another elected official's department.