Generally speaking, most agree that “it is never right to do wrong to do right,” but to lose one’s livelihood over a small dishonesty with honest intentions is petty. Alabama school cafeteria worker Avette Dunn would doubtless agree with this statement, as she lost her job after attempting to help feed hungry students in secret. While the Shelby County Schools Board of Education claims it felt the termination was necessary based on its members’ side of the story, the internet is thoroughly outraged at this unjust punishment.
For context, Dunn convinced her friend, Wanda Pate, to willfully donate $200 to her school’s PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) lunch account, which is used to feed hungry students. Several months later, Dunn asked Pate for another donation, and an additional $100 was sent. When Dunn requested another donation for a third time, Pate reached out to the school to see if the PTO account’s funds were lacking. The principal found out about the situation and asked Dunn directly if she was soliciting donations, to which she replied “no” out of concern for Pate’s confidentiality.
The Alabama school board eventually discovered that the cafeteria worker had lied and had her fired. Even though Dunn had unlawfully acquired donations for the students, she had properly deposited all the funds into the PTO account. Dunn admitted to the board that she made a mistake but doesn’t believe her dishonesty warranted her getting fired. “I think I should’ve been suspended for two weeks,” she protested. According to the Shelby Counter Reporter, a board member advocating for Dunn’s termination responded with, “I don’t see the collecting of money nearly as serious as the fact that you couldn’t be honest with your principal.”
“Getting in trouble for feeding kids is insane. That pisses me off so much,” remarks a commenter on the Alabama news report. “Every day, I find a new reason to dislike the people who run this state,” complains another. A third called out all of the Shelby County Board of Education as “pathetic,” to which hundreds upvoted in agreement. “Why do they hate feeding kids so much?” exclaims a fourth.
Dozens more have commented on the punishment as “absurd, cruel, and inhumane.” To be fired over not meeting what the school board referred to as a “professional expectation” is indeed ridiculous. In this case, a slap on the wrist or a temporary suspension would have made sense. However, the Alabama Shelby County Schools Board of Education has just ruined its reputation because of this alarmingly unjust decision.
